Rats in Spain
black rat: rata negra: Rattus rattus
Present throughout the entire Iberian Peninsula and the Canaries, where on the island of Gomera they threaten the regeneration of laurisilva forest and endemic birds such as the blue chaffinch. Black rats arrived in Spain as early as the 6th century CE, and later, in 1348, brought the Black Death (La Peste Negra) accompanying pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. Today they are a serious agricultural pest in many areas.
brown rat: rata parda: Rattus norvegicus
Probably arrived in Spain in the 19th century and has since flourished in low-lying and urban areas.
Mammals of Spain
The Iberianature guide to Spain
