The Parque Nacional de Doņana is one of Europe's most important wetland reserves and a major site for migrating birds. A key centre in the world of conservation, Doņana covers an area of 1300 sq km. At Doņana you will see an enormous variety of birds. There are permanent residents including one of the worlds largest colonies of Spanish Imperial Eagles and many winter visitors from north and central Europe including colonies of colourful flamingos.
The national park was the delta of the Guadalquivir river. Now the river only has one key outlet to the sea as a huge sand bank that stretches from the mouth of the Río Tinto, near Palos de la Frontera, to the riverbank opposite Sanlúcar, has gradually blocked the rest of the delta. The sea winds have whipped the sand bank into high dunes and behind this natural barrier stretch the marsh lands loved by the resident and migrating birds.
This extraordinary landscape has not been habitable by humans so remains an unspoilt land devoted to wildlife. The Kings of Castille in the 13th Century aside portions of Doņana as a hunting estate and it has changed hands a number of times since then but was finally made a National Park in 1969.
Entrance to the park is strictly controlled. You can take half-day or full-day trips with official guides or explore the environs of the visitors' centres on foot. There are a number of visitor centres to arrange the guided tours the principal centre is:
Centro de Recepciķn El Acebuche (959 44 87 11). Here you will find an exhibition about the park, a café and a shop selling maps and books. There is a signposted 5km trail through scrubland and pine trees and the El Acebuche lagoon, where there are bird hides, where you can see many different species of birds, including Purple Gallinules.
Another way of experiencing the bird watching is to visit the Playa de Castilla beach, which can be reached on foot from Matalascaņas. This unspoilt stretch of coastline does not have access to the park but runs alongside the boundary so there are great bird watching possibilities.
