Calasparra rice has not always been cultivated outside the town but was transferred to the outskirts after the worst outbreak of tertian fever (malaria) affected the general population in 1804.
In fact, growing rice near the town was prohibited by Calasparra Town Hall in 1751, to protect the health of the residents, and due a lack of water in the two rivers, Quipar and Argos.
However, it was only after a legal action, which lasted several years, was brought that same year by the local Union Chief, that the cultivation of rice was finally transferred to the current site where it was, and still is, irrigated by water from the river Segura via the irrigation system of the Rotas.
The oldest document in the Municipal Archive referring to the cultivation of Calasparrra rice dates back to 1634. However, we know that the Acequia de Rotas (Rotas Irrigation system) was fully functioning in the 16th century and approved in 1570. In the 17th century rice cultivation expanded to the lands irrigated by the River Segura.
But rice was also grown near the town through traditional irrigation from the river Argos through the Acequia Mayor, the Acequia Gil Pérez, Campillo Manzano and La Mina.
But the cultivation of the rice provoked tertian diseases in the town due to mosquito bites and the accumulated stagnant water.
In 1804 the worst outbreak and the high death toll led to the majority of the rice cultivation being transferred to the outskirts of the town.
On February 20 of 1908 a Royal Decree declared the lands on the margin of the river Segura should be dedicated to the cultivation of rice, where it has been grown ever since.
In 1982 Calasparra rice was awarded the provisional “Denomination of Origin” in recognition of the quality of the product, which was ratified in 1986.
