Short answer. Yes, within limits. The Civil Code requires the outgoing lessee to allow the incoming lessee the use of the premises for the preparatory labor for the following year, while the incoming lessee must let the outgoing one finish gathering and using the fruits. The two rights run side by side, according to local custom.
What the law says
The outgoing lessee shall allow the incoming lessee or the lessor the use of the premises and other means necessary for the preparatory labor for the following year; and, reciprocally, the incoming lessee or the lessor is under obligation to permit the outgoing lessee to do whatever may be necessary for the gathering or harvesting and utilization of the fruits, all in accordance with the custom of the place.
Civil Code, Article 1683 — Outgoing and Incoming Lessee. Read the full provision →
A shared window at the turnover
Farming does not stop neatly on the day one tenant leaves and another arrives. Preparing land for the next crop often has to begin while the old crop is still being harvested. Article 1683 handles that overlap by imposing duties on both sides. The outgoing lessee shall allow the incoming lessee or the lessor the use of the premises and other means necessary for the preparatory labor for the following year. So the answer to the question is yes: the incoming tenant may start the preparatory work needed for the coming season, and the departing tenant is obliged to let him onto the land to do it.
The obligation runs both ways
The article is deliberately reciprocal. In exchange for early access, the incoming lessee or the lessor is under obligation to permit the outgoing lessee to do whatever may be necessary for the gathering or harvesting and utilization of the fruits. The outgoing tenant who planted and tended the crop keeps the right to bring in and use that harvest, even as the newcomer begins preparing the ground. Neither may shut the other out. The incoming tenant cannot take over so aggressively that the standing crop is lost, and the outgoing tenant cannot refuse all access on the excuse that he is still harvesting.
Local custom sets the details
The provision does not fix exact dates or spell out precisely how much of the land each may use and when. Instead it ties everything to the custom of the place. What counts as reasonable preparatory labor, and how the harvesting and the preparation are fitted together, is measured by the accepted farming practice of the locality. This makes sense, because planting and harvest cycles differ by region and crop. The parties are expected to accommodate one another in line with how such transitions are ordinarily handled where the land is, rather than by one side's convenience alone.
Avoiding a clash at handover
In practice, friction arises when the incoming and outgoing cultivators each accuse the other of overreaching. The sensible approach is to agree in advance on how the overlap will be managed — which portions can be prepared first, and how the outgoing tenant's harvesting will be protected — consistent with local custom. Keep note of what the customary practice is and of any agreement reached. Where agricultural tenancy laws also apply, additional protections may come into play. Because the balance depends heavily on local custom and the specific crops involved, the situation is worth reviewing carefully before either side acts unilaterally.