TEMPORIS HIATUS DE LA JOYA ESCARLATA (1900-1959): UNA PERSPECTIVA DESDE LA PENUMBRA SOBRE SU PRODUCCIÓN Y COMERCIALIZACIÓN EN EL MERCADO CANARIO

Abstract

This article analyses a chronological interval (1900-1959) that has been largely overlooked in the agroeconomic historiography of the Canary Islands, focusing on the production and marketing of cochineal grain. This period, conceptualised as the “Temporis hiatus of the scarlet jewel”, allows for the examination of various aspects of the decline, marginalisation, and socioeconomic invisibility of this natural product, which was commonly regarded as extinct or supplanted by other agroexport crops by the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, historical, archival, and commercial sources confirm its limited persistence as a valued natural dye during the first half of the 20th century. The study identifies two phases characterised by commercial ambivalence and uncertainty, culminating in a partial reactivation of its cultivation on the island of Lanzarote.