Final answer:
Sugar cane reached southern Spain after being introduced to Europe via the Middle East by Arab traders and then cultivated in the Madeiras and Canary Islands by the Portuguese and Spanish. The growth of sugar plantations in the New World, fueled by the labor of enslaved Africans, stimulated sugar production practices that spread to European territories such as southern Spain. The insatiable European demand for sugar further reinforced its cultivation.
Step-by-step explanation:
How Sugar Cane Reached Southern Spain
Sugar cane, originally developed in Southeast Asia, made its way to southern Spain through a complex journey involving trade, colonization, and the transatlantic slave trade. Arab traders introduced sugar cane to the Middle East, where it caught the attention of Europeans during the crusades. As Europeans developed a taste for sugar, the Portuguese and Spanish started cultivating it on the Madeiras and Canary Islands, leading to a surge in demand for the commodity. Columbus played a pivotal role by bringing sugar cane to Hispaniola in 1493, which then sparked widespread cultivation in the Caribbean and subsequently in other parts of the New World.
As demand grew, sugar plantations required a significant workforce, which led to the implementation of the encomienda system and eventually to the enslavement of Africans. The Spanish and Portuguese, who had previously used enslaved African labor on their off-coast African islands, transported these individuals in large numbers to the Americas to work on plantations. The brutal and labor-intensive nature of sugar plantation work included growing, harvesting, and processing sugar cane, which was then refined into sugar. Over time, the extensive sugar production in the Americas influenced the cultivation of sugar cane in European territories like southern Spain.
The transatlantic slave trade was integral to the development of sugar plantations, as the labor provided by enslaved Africans was seen as critical to achieving profitability. This led to the widespread adoption of foods like sugar cane across Europe, with southern Spain being no exception to the influence of these global agricultural changes.