IberiaNature A guide to the natural history of Spain
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Lakes and Wetlands in Spain

Biggest lakes in Spain

  • Curiously, the biggest lake in Spain , Sanabria in Zamora is fed by river Tera, while the second biggest, Banyoles, is fed by the river Ter.

 

Province

Size (ha)

Max Depth (metres)

Type

Sanabria

Zamora

370 ha

51

Glacial marginal

Lago Banyoles (Estany de Banyoles)

Gerona

107 ha

46.4

Karst

Lake Sanabria

  • There are some 150,000 wetlands in Spain , most of which are small or tiny. They cover 114,000 h of the 280,000 ha left in 1800. Wetlands probably once covered 500,000 ha - 1% of Spanish territory.
  • The largest inland lagoon is Gallocanta in Zaragoza with 1,400 ha followed by Fuentedepiedra in Malaga with 1,300 ha. Both are shallow saltwater lagoons.
  • There are 444 mountain lakes and 82 karst lakes, 14% and 49%, respectively are considered highly degraded. There are 637 inland freshwater wetlands.
  • Between 57% and 60% of Spanish wetlands have been lost (see table below) with most of this fall taking place between 1965 and 1990. An example is the historical reduction of the Guadalquivir Swamps from 200,000 ha to a still considerable 36,000 ha..
  • Full list of Ramsar sites in Spain here below. (increased to 63 as of 11 Nov 2005). The surface area of Ramsar sites in Spain has risen from 173,124 hectares to 283,873.

2006 TVE news item on state of Spanish wetlands (1m 43s). Click on play. More Spain nature videos

Estimated past and current surface area of Spanish wetlands

  • Wetland type

    Past surface (ha)

    Current surface (ha)

    Current surface / Past surface (%)

    Wetland loss (%)

    Inland

    40,600

    16,421

    40.4

    59.6

    Mountain

    2,314

    2,386

    103.1

    -

    Karstic

    874

    784

    89.7

    10.3

    Inland freshwater

    14,802

    4,805

    32.5

    67.5

    Inland saline

    6,743

    5,212

    77.3

    22.7

    Floodplain

    15,867

    3,234

    20.4

    79.6

    Coastal

    239,628

    104,116

    43.4

    56.6

    Total

    280,228

    120,537

    43%

    57%

(based on Spanish Ramsar National Report 1998 and Hecker & Tomàs Vives 1995. From this excellent review of Spanish wetlands):

External links

List of Ramsar sites in Spain

  1.   Parque Nacional de Doñana
  2.   Las Tablas de Daimiel
  3.   Laguna de Fuente de Piedra
  4.   Lagunas de Cádiz (Laguna de Medina y Laguna Salada)
  5.   Lagunas del sur de Córdoba (Zóñar, Rincón y Amarga)
  6.   Marismas del Odiel
  7.   Salinas del Cabo de Gata
  8.   S'Albufera de Mallorca
  9.   Laguna de la Vega (o del Pueblo )
  10.   Lagunas de Villafáfila
  11.   Complejo intermareal Umia-Grove
  12.   Rias de Ortigueira y Ladrido
  13.   Albufera de Valencia
  14.   Pantano de El Hondo
  15.   Lagunas de la Mata y Torrevieja
  16.   Salinas de Santa Pola
  17.   Prat de Cabanes - Torreblanca
  18.   Aiguamolls de l'Empordà
  19.   Delta del Ebro
  20.   Laguna de Manjavacas
  21.   Lagunas de Alcázar de San Juan
  22.   Laguna del Prado
  23.   Embalse de Orellana
  24.   Complejo de Corrubedo
  25.   Laguna y arenal de Valdoviño
  26.   Ria de Mundaka-Guernika
  27.   Salinas de Ibiza y Formentera
  28.   Laguna de Chiprana
  29.   Laguna de Gallocanta
  30.   Embalses de Cordobilla y Malpasillo
  31.   Albufera de Adra
  32.   Ría del Eo
  33.   Mar Menor
  34.   Marismas de Santoña
  35.   Marjal de Pego-Oliva
  36.   Embalse de las Cañas
  37.   Laguna de Pitillas
  38.   Lagunas de Laguardia (Carralogroño, Carravalseca, Prao de la Paul y Musco)
  39.   Colas del Embalse de Ullibarri
  40.   Complejo lagunar de La Albuera
  41.   Lago de Banyoles
  42.   Lago de Caicedo-Yuso y Salinas de Añana
  43.   Laguna de El Hito
  44.   Laguna de la Nava de Fuentes
  45.   Lagunas de puebla de Beleña
  46.   Saladar de Jandía
  47.   Salburua
  48.   Txingudi
  49.   Bahía de Cádiz
  50. 14 news site added Nov. 2005. Parque Nacional de Aigües Tortes i Estany de Sant Maurici ( Cataluña)
  51. Humedales de la Sierra de Urbión (La Rioja)
  52. Lagunas de Peñalara (Madrid)
  53. Paraje Natural Brazo del Este (Sevilla)
  54. Lagunas de Palos y Las Madres (Huelva)
  55. Punta Entinas-Sabinar (Almería)
  56. Complejo Endorréico de Espera (Cádiz)
  57. Reserva Natural Laguna del Conde o Salobral (Córdoba)
  58. Reserva Natural Laguna de Tíscar (Córdoba)
  59. Reserva Natural de los Jarales (Córdoba)
  60. Turberas de Padul (Granada)
  61. Reserva Natural Laguna Honda (Jaén)
  62. Reserva Natural Laguna del Chinche (Jaén)
  63. Reserva Natural Lagunas del Campillo (Jaén)

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