Colonia (Madeira)
Colonia was a land exploitation regime specific to Madeira Island, in which the landlord gave the land to a colono to clear and cultivate, receiving part of the production, and being able to evict the settler at any time, but having to compensate him for the value of the improvements he had made. The colonia was abolished at the end of the 20th century, following the Regional Decree 13/77/M, approved in 1977.
History
The colonia most probably emerged in the 17th century, when sugar cane was replaced by vineyards as the island's main crop, and was used as a means of carrying out the work of reconverting the land without great cost to the owner, having become predominant in the 18th century.After the Liberal Revolution, the colonia regime did not really fit into the law, as it didn't fully fit either the partnership or the emphyteusis; in 1854 and 1867, laws on the colonia regime were approved by the parliament, but they were not implemented in the end.; also in 1867 a Civil Code was approved that ignored the regime, which led courts to frequently refuse to judge cases involving colonia contracts. On the other hand, as of 1885 the tax authorities started to consider the improvements as property of the settler, who would have to pay taxes on them.
The colonia system has always been characterized by some conflict between settlers and landowners, and since the 18th century there were movements towards its abolition, which, on the island of Porto Santo, occurred as early as 1770 ; and in 1776 there were claims by the settlers of Madeira Island in the sense that they were also entitled to 2/3 of the production, and there was even a rebellion in 1818. Another example of this social tension occurred in 1927, when a protest of settlers and tenants in the Lombada area of Ponta do Sol led the government to expropriate two large properties in the area to resell them to settlers on favorable terms.
In the years before the Carnation Revolution, the development of tourism would also have its influence, as the real estate reconversion of previously agricultural land led to a series of large-scale evictions with great social impact.
In 1967, Decree-Law 47 937 of September 15 abolished the figure of the colonia, but keeping valid the contracts prior to that date; the new Portuguese Constitution of 1976 defined that the colonia regime should be extinguished, and the Regional Decrees 13/77/M, 16/79 and 7/80/M abolished the system, converting it into a lease contract, but giving the settlers the right to acquire, if they so wished, full ownership of the land.
Characteristics and consequences
Formally, the colonia system was based on the principle that the landowner delivered a piece of land to be cleared to a settler, and from that point on, possession was divided between the land and the improvements ; the production was normally divided half to the landlord and half to the settler, at least in what concerns the so-called "rich crops", with greater commercial value. This led the landlords to demand that the settlers cultivate mainly these products.The separation of ownership of land from improvements had several consequences - notably it contributed to greater fragmentation of ownership, as it allowed laws forbidding excessive subdivision of land in inheritances to be overcome ; before the abolition of the majorat, also allowed owners to borrow by the ruse of becoming settlers themselves, and thus giving the improvements as a mortgage. Settlers also had an incentive to build as many improvements as possible, to increase the amount the landlord would have to pay them in case of eviction, often leading to works sometimes of dubious usefulness; For their part, the landlords tried to limit the improvements that the settlers built, sometimes leading to prohibitions on the cultivation of fruit trees and above all to major limitations on the construction of dwellings.