Introduction
The plains were used for irrigated crops and fruit trees. Here in the mountains, dry farming was practised: cereals and vineyards, with olives and almonds being less common.
Vineyards expanded from the 18th century onwards. These steep, sun-exposed slopes were ideal. Dry-stone huts and slate terraces hidden among the maquis and pine forest bear witness to this agricultural past.
With phylloxera, vineyards were drastically reduced. The plague reached the Penedès around 1893 and destroyed 885,000 hectares of vineyards in eight years.
Cherry trees and carob trees became alternatives until widespread abandonment led to the pine forests seen today. Forest management should now aim to restore biodiversity and the original holm oak woodland.
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