Instituto Nacional de Colonización

The Instituto Nacional de Colonización y Desarrollo Rural, English: National Institute of Rural Development and Colonization, was the administrative entity that was established by the Spanish Dictatorship in October 1939, shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War, in order to repopulate certain areas of Spain. This entity depended from the Ministry of Agriculture and it sought to alleviate the effects of the devastation caused by the three years of civil war.

The Instituto acquired land which it transferred to the colonizing villagers under different conditions according to the area and the levels of poverty of the tenants. The colonizing tenants eventually were expected to pay a small sum that allowed them to become the future owners of the land they tilled.

This ambitious plan led to the establishment of new villages in different parts of Spain, some of which still survive. The Instituto reached a height of activity and influence during the first two decades of Franco's regime, but after the Plan de Estabilización in 1959, and the subsequent Planes de Desarrollo, its autarchic goals and ideals became outdated. By 1971 the word "Colonization" had stopped being politically correct and the name of the entity was changed to Instituto Nacional de Reforma y Desarrollo Agrario (IRYDA).

The Instituto's alleged main goal was to increase agricultural production in Spain by devoting more land surface to agriculture. Priority was given to the development of new irrigated areas in arid and semi-arid zones. This goal was very effective for the propaganda purposes of the new regime and triumphalistic claims were made that the colonization measures would increase self-sufficiency. But often irrigation was opposed to the traditional and sustainable methods of dryland farming that were ecologically more in tune with locally available resources in fragile environments.

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