Aiguamolls de l’Empordà
This parc natural is
one of the last wetland refuges in Mediterranean Spain, 25 km (16 miles) south
of the French border
From
the air, the Golfo de Roses, enclosed by the foothills of the Pyrenees, looks as
though some huge, mythical sea-beast has bitten a chunk from the land. Although
it is one of the least spoiled parts of the tourist-ridden Costa Brava, the area
is full of high-rise hotels, and the great Perpignan-Barcelona motorway snakes
its way across the lowland plain less than ten kilometres (six miles) from the
sea. But sandwiched between sea and speeding cars, in the heart of this
piecemeal but ever-growing concrete conurbation, lies one of the last wetland
refuges in Mediterranean Spain: Aiguamolls de l’Empordà.
The
ruins of three great cities built on top of each other, remnants of Greek,
Iberian and Roman civilizations, mark the southernmost limit of Aiguamolls de
l’Empordà. It was known at various points in its history as Emporion,
Empurias, Ampuñas, and today as Empúries (Ampurias); the name derives from the
Greek for ‘trading station’. All that remains today is a maze of partially
excavated foundations.
As
recently as the early 18th century, most of the coastal lowlands of Empordà
were a wilderness of vast freshwater and salt-water lakes, interspersed with
marshlands and riverine forests. At this time Castelló d’Empúries, lying on
the Río Muga, in the north of the bay, was surrounded by low-lying swamps and
lagoons. As this town declined in importance, so the marshes have gradually
disappeared, being used originally for rice cultivation and limited
cattle-rearing, but more recently for intensive farming of arable crops, such as
maize, sunflowers and barley. Now only fragmentary lagoons persist, and the
remaining wilderness areas are increasingly threatened by tourism.
The
Golfo de Roses is separated from France by the ancient granite and slate spit of
the Cadaqués peninsula to the north. The coastal depression curves upwards to
the south and west in a series of dissected hills of Tertiary age, before
rearing up to meet the nether regions of the Pyrenees beyond; the southerly
promontory, on which the village of L’Estartit stands, is composed of
limestone and has spectacular underwater caves at its tip.
In
response to the obvious threats from agricultural intensification and tourist
development, and as a result of a certain amount of environmental lobbying, the
Catalan parliament declared a large area of the remaining wetlands a parc
natural in 1983. There are three ‘integral’ reserves within the park: one is
a salt marsh area — a large pentagonal block lying inland from the beach
between the Muga and Fluvià rivers, where the existing lagoon system is to be
extended to attract more breeding and migrating birds. There are eight such
llaunes, or lagoons, which are connected with both rivers when the water levels
are high, but are also very close to the sea, and thus are inundated several
times a year when storms cause the Mediterranean to break over the dunes.
The
second reserve lies further north, on the site of the former lake of Castelló
d’Empúries. It consists of a number of estanys and closes — water meadows
and grazing marshes — which receive freshwater from Alberes and the St Pere de
Rodes mountains to the north all year round. L’Aigua Clara is the only
remaining part of the great lake, and is now covered with reeds and reed-mace.
Surrounding this central reserve is a large area of similar countryside,
including La Rovina, which comprises tiny strips of land or peces, bordered by
irrigation channels and tamarisk hedges. This wetland would seem more at home in
central France or southern England, with its small fields, bounded by elm and
ash hedgerows or by narrow ditches flanked with all manner of water-loving
plants. The freshwater marsh overflows with sedges and club-rushes, stands of
yellow flag and purple loosestrife, and the huge purple-pink blooms of the marsh
mallow.
By
far the smallest of the reserves is the Illa de Caramany, on the Río Fluvià,
which was isolated in 1979 by dredging work on the river-bed and consequently
has great value as untouched riverine woodland that serves as a refuge for
wildlife. As recently as the spring of 1987 a species of iris new to Empordà
was discovered here for the first time.
The
salt-marsh ‘steppes’ form a complex mosaic of halophytic vegetation,
interspersed with the irregular brackish lagoons. Pure mats of a succulent sea
plantain, level enough for a football field, are dotted here and there with
golden samphire and sea wormwood. Wetter areas support sea rush, sea purslane,
several species of glasswort and sea lavender, while to the seaward side, in the
summer, the continually shifting dunes are a blaze of pinks and mauves —
flowering sea rocket and sea stock, sea holly and sea bindweed. The lagoons are
filled with the delicate fronds of horned pondweed, tasselweeds, water milfoils
and hornworts, attracting myriad wildfowl during the winter. One of the most
memorable sights is of the white-studded sheets of brackish water crowfoot that
bloom on the lake at Vilaüt in spring.
More
than 20 mammal species frequent the park, although some, such as the otter, are
now so uncommon that they are feared extinct, despite breeding further upstream
in both rivers. Of the smaller creatures, oak dormice, European white-toothed
shrews, Etruscan shrews, water voles, long-tailed field mice, short-tailed
voles, moles and hedgehogs have all been recorded here, as have rabbits, hares,
weasels and foxes. Beech martens are sighted occasionally and polecats are quite
common in the marshes. The 11 bat species help to control the thriving mosquito
population; they include three species of horseshoe bat, as well as bent-winged
and Daubenton’s bats. In the winter, families of wild boar sometimes leave the
neighbouring hills to feed in the closes.
Amphibians
and reptiles are no less diverse. The marshes ring with the calls of painted
frogs, and you can observe natterjack and common toads, western and common
spadefoots, marbled and palmate newts and stripeless tree frogs; the latter is
only about the length of your little finger with disc-shaped climbing pads on
its feet. I was lucky enough to see a stripe-necked terrapin slipping silently
into a pool; the European pond terrapin has been recorded here, too. The drier,
rocky places are the haunt of the spiny-footed and Iberian wall lizards, as well
as both species of psammodromus and Moorish geckos, or you may catch a glimpse
of the much larger green-and-yellow ocellated lizard. Montpellier and ladder
snakes, the former mildly poisonous, occur here, as do grass snakes, viperine
snakes, slow-worms and three-toed skinks.
But
the wealth of birds in Aiguamolls de l’Empordà is the main attraction of
these important wetlands: it is an ornithological paradise, particularly during
the spring and autumn migratory seasons. The presence of the garganey so far
south of its normal breeding quarters is one of the fascinating mysteries of
this park. Notable breeding birds include stone-curlews, black-winged stilts and
marsh harriers. In the more Mediterranean vegetation of the granite outcrops in
the northern part of the reserve, it is not unusual to see rollers, bee-eaters
and great spotted cuckoos hunting among the nettle trees and fragrant,
narrow-leaved cistus. The beach, although part of the salt-marsh integral
reserve, is much visited by sun-seekers, and consequently only a few pairs of
Kentish plovers manage to nest here successfully. There are hopes that, if
access can be restricted during the breeding season, little ringed plovers and
little terns will return to rear their young here.
During
the winter, black-throated divers are a frequent sight in the bay, and
red-throated divers and great northern divers can be seen occasionally. Winter
is also the season when cormorants, razor-bills, eiderducks and common and
velvet scoters use the sheltered waters of the Golfo de Roses as a resting
point, as do goosanders and red-breasted mergansers. If you are lucky, you may
see a small flock of greater flamingoes, which drops in on the salt-marsh during
migration time; lone individuals have been known to stay for the whole winter.
It
is during spring and autumn migrations, however, that these marshlands come into
their own. Some of the more exotic species that have been known to frequent
Aiguamolls de l’Empordà are spoon-bills and glossy ibis, red-crested pochard,
black-necked and Slavonian grebes, short-eared owls and common cranes. Almost
all European members of the heron family have been recorded here, as well as
some rare visitors from Africa: great white egret, bittern, squacco heron,
little egret and cattle egret. Purple and night herons, little bitterns and grey
herons all breed here and there are hopes that some of the wild egrets will be
attracted to an enclosure which contains several breeding pairs, so that these
species return to nest here once again.
Small
birds are no less exciting than these giants of the marshes; at any time you can
hear the reed and Cetti’s warblers that frequent the denser stands of
vegetation. Both penduline and bearded tits are attracted to the relatively
pollution-free Fluvià and Muga rivers to breed. Other breeding passerines
include moustached, Savi’s and great reed warblers, as well as nightingales
and yellow wagtails. The three or four pairs of lesser grey shrikes that breed
in the freshwater marsh represent the only regular pairs in the Iberian
peninsula, apart from those in the steppes of Lleida. In all, some 300 species
of bird have been recorded within the boundaries of the park, of which
approximately 90 are known to breed here.
BEFORE YOU GO
Maps: IGN 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 Nos. 258 and 259; and IGN 1:200,000 Mapa Provincial of Girona.
Guide-book: Rose Macaulay, Fabled Shore (Oxford University Press, 1986).
GETTING THERE
By air: there is a wide variety of flights, both international and internal, to Barcelona.
By car: approaching from Girona or from France, leave the Autopista del Mediterráneo at Figueres, then take the C260 due east to Roses.
By rail: there are many fast trains every day between Barcelona and Figueres, from where local services take you to nearby stations such as Vilajuïga, close to the park.
By bus: ‘Barcelona Bus’, T: (93) 232 04 59, operates buses from the Estació del Nord in Barcelona to Girona, T: (972) 20 24 32, or Figueres, T: (972) 50 50 29. SARFA, T: (93) 265 65 08, operates services from the Estació del Nord to Figueres, T: (972) 67 42 98, and Castelló d’Empúries, T: (972) 25 05 93. Alternatively, from Figueres, SARFA runs 10 buses daily to Castelló d’Empúries and 4 daily to Sant Pere Pescador. In July-Aug SARFA runs 2 buses daily to the parc natural, which is about 4 km (2.5 miles) from Castelló or Sant Pere.
WHEN TO GO
The best times to visit Aiguamolls de l’Empordà to see birds are Mar-May, and Aug, when large numbers of waders and wildfowl use the park as a migration-route ‘stepping stone’. Morning and early evening are the times when you are most likely to be rewarded by sightings from the bird hides. Botanically, the park is at its best in May. Empordà is subject to a battering from the Mistral for up to a week in spring.
WHERE TO STAY
The nearest town is Castelló d’Empúries, where you can find the 4-star HA Briaxis, T: (972) 45 15 45, F: 67 27 71, and several others. Sant Pere Pescador also has several places, including the 3-star Can Ceret, T/F: 55 04 33, and Roses, to the north, has plenty.
Outdoor living: in Castelló d’Empúries you will find Camping Nautic Almata, T: (972) 45 44 77, open 30 May-24 Sept; Camping La Laguna, T: (972) 45 05 53, open 23 Mar-24 Oct; Camping Castell Mar, T: (972) 45 08 22, open 9 May-27 Sept; and Camping Empúries, T: (972) 25 01 01, open all year. Several more camp-sites can be found in Sant Pere Pescador, and there are many others in the region.
ACCESS
When walking in the reserve, take heed of any signposts indicating the route or forbidding entry: these are there to protect the most sensitive breeding areas.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Tourist office:
Pl. del Sol, s/n, 17600 Figueres, T: (972) 50 31 55, F: 67 31 86;
Puigmal, 1, Empuriabrava, 17486 Castelló d’Empúries, T: (972) 45 08 02, F: 45 06 00.
Park information:
the park information centre is at El Cortalet, at the entrance near Castelló d’Empúries (on the road to Sant Pere Pescador), T: (972) 45 42 22.