Timber Supplying in the South Spanish Dockyards During the 18th Century

Abstract

The mountains of Segura, as an inland area and far away from dockyards and large populations, remained in the best conditions, even wild. However, other forests closer to those and which can be easily harvested were used to provide the shipbuilding industry, hydraulic and civil architectures with timber. Once those located in the Department of Cartagena […] and Cádiz were completely deforested. Thus, the government and timber dealers started cutting down abundantly forests from Seville to Segura, through Jaén, Córdoba, etc., and wrongly thinking that they were exhaustible they took all the pieces of wood required to provide naval dockyards in Cádiz and Cartagena and Andalusia, Mancha, Murcia and some regions of Castile with timber.