Donana National Park

Donana sits where the Guadalquivir meets the Atlantic, a mosaic of seasonal marsh, mobile dunes, cork oak and stone pine that fills with water in winter and dries to cracked mud by August. It is the most important wetland in southern Europe for migratory birds, a staging post between Africa and the rest of the continent, and it holds small populations of Iberian lynx and Spanish imperial eagle. The core of the park is closed to independent visitors, so the way in is a guided four wheel drive trip. Around the edges, free boardwalks at El Acebuche, La Rocina and Jose Antonio Valverde put you at hides without any booking.

History

Neolithic tools have been found here, and the marshes were once a great inland lake, the Lacus Ligustinus, slowly filled with sediment; Roman settlements of the 2nd to 5th centuries AD lived from fishing and salting fish for garum. In 1262, after conquering the kingdom of Niebla, Alfonso X made the Las Rocinas forest a royal hunting preserve, and from 1297 much of the land belonged to the lords of Sanlúcar, later the House of Medina Sidonia, for more than six centuries; the name comes from Ana de Silva y Mendoza, wife of the 7th Duke, who retired to a country house here called the Coto de Doña Ana. In 1969 the WWF and the Spanish government bought part of the marshes and created the national park; it became a Biosphere Reserve in 1980, a Ramsar wetland in 1982 and a World Heritage Site in 1994. In 1998 a mining dam burst at Aznalcóllar and sent toxic sludge into the Guadiamar, the park's main water source, and in 2000 the "Doñana 2005" programme began to regenerate the marshes (Wikipedia, Doñana National Park).

What's there

• The winter marsh - a flooded plain holding great numbers of geese, ducks and waders.
• The mobile dunes - sand ridges moving slowly inland over the pine woods.
• The free hides - boardwalk trails and bird hides at the visitor centres.
• The guided 4x4 - the only way into the closed core of the park.

When to go

October to April is the season: the marsh holds water, the birds are there and the heat is manageable. Late summer is the worst time, with the marsh baked dry and the wildlife concentrated out of sight. Book the guided trips well ahead in spring, and take the earliest departure of the day for the best sightings.

Good to know

Lynx sightings are rare and should not be expected on a half day tour. The 4x4 trips run a fixed route in a bus-like vehicle with limited stopping, and the dust and jolting are tiring. In dry years the marsh can be nearly empty of both water and birds. Bring your own binoculars, because the loan pairs are poor.

Nearby

El Rocio's sand streets sit on the marsh edge; Sanlucar de Barrameda faces the park across the river.

Key facts