L’Albufera de València

A parc natural, one of the largest bodies of freshwater in Spain, located just south of València and attracting birds of passage

Ramsar, ZEPA

This famous laguna south of València is an important wetland, and birds of passage love to feed in its surrounding rice fields. People like to eat here, too: the village of El Palmar, more or less surrounded by L’Albufera, has been transformed from a collection of reed-thatched fishermen’s huts into an agglomeration of restaurants, each trying to outdo the others with the magnificence of its paella valenciana. You come here, therefore, to watch birds through binoculars and then, when the sun has set, to study menus with equal intensity. It is sometimes very difficult to move after one of these gargantuan feasts of rice, game birds and seafood. Fortunately for the comatose (although not for resident birds), there is a surfeit of nearby beach hotels along the strip of land between the laguna and the sea; in any of these you can sleep off the effects of a too-rich paella and be none the worse for it the next day.  

The hydrographics of L’Albufera are complex. In the winter it fills up with freshwater from the Río Túria and the Acequia de Rey, but although it is one of the largest bodies of freshwater in Spain — 2,837 ha (7,010 acres), of which about a tenth is taken up by reed beds and interior islands called matas — it is very shallow, varying from 1 to 2.5 metres (3 to 8 feet) in depth. At the southern end of the laguna there is a canal, the Perelló, which can be opened and closed at will to allow water to flow into the Mediterranean. It is estimated that the laguna receives eight times more water, on average, than it can accommodate without flooding the surrounding area, notably the sandbank separating it from the sea, the Platjas (Playas) del Saler and de la Devesa. The rise and fall in the level of the laguna is thus closely watched. Equally importantly, experts have detected a growing contamination of its waters by industrial effluvia, domestic sewage and agricultural residues that are washed into the laguna every year and are threatening its ecological balance. L’Albufera is a wetland under ‘stress’; it is not only threatened by chemical poisoning but also by a gradual silting process that adds heavy layers of sediment to the bottom with each annual flooding.  

L’Albufera has already shrunk enormously. In the Middle Ages it was over ten times its present size, but as farmers took over the western marshlands and turned them into rice paddies the laguna was gradually reduced. In recent years the conflicting interests of local duck hunters and conservation groups have led to heated controversies concerning the legislation and management of what has become, at the eleventh hour, a parc natural with stringent protective measures imposed by the autonomy of València.  

The birds, unaware of the battles that have been fought for and against their interests, have continued to flock to L’Albufera by the tens of thousands. About 250 species of birds — 90 of which breed here regularly — have been recorded at the ornithological station of L’Albufera, near Mata del Fang; cattle egrets, little egrets, red-crested pochards, mallards, shovelers and wigeon, all counted in their thousands.  

The census of passage birds includes between 1,000-2,000 lapwing, 2,000-14,000 red-crested pochard, more than 6,000 black-tailed godwit and somewhat fewer little ringed plover, as well as snipe, dunlin, sanderling, golden plover and redshank.  

Among the species that breed in the reed beds of L’Albufera are great crested grebe (about 100 pairs) and black-necked grebe, egrets, night, purple and squacco herons, bittern and little bittern (about 30 or 40 pairs), little ringed plover, Kentish plover, redshank and avocet. Noted for the large number of breeding pairs are black-winged stilt, pratincole, common and gull-billed tern, fan-tailed, reed and great reed warblers, and the penduline tit.  

The recent increase in breeding numbers indicates that L’Albufera, although threatened on all sides by pesticide pollution and the proximity of urban developments, is all the more important to Europe’s bird life now that so many other natural marshes have been destroyed or are under threat and the number of alternative wetlands is steadily decreasing.  

BEFORE YOU GO

Maps: IGN 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 Nos. 722 and 747; IGN 1:200,000 Mapa Provincial of València.

GETTING THERE

By car: either the N333 or autovía to El Saler, and on to El Palmar.

By bus: a regular half-hourly service runs from València, Pl. El Parterre, to L’Albufera.

WHERE TO STAY

The 5-star Hotel Sidi Saler, T: (96) 161 04 11, F: 161 08 38, in El Saler, is not only right on the beach, but has marvellous spa amenities. València has numerous hotels. Try the stylish 4-star Astoria Palace, T: (96) 352 67 27, F: 352 80 78.

Outdoor living: Camping El Palmar, T: (96) 161 08 53, open July-Aug, and Camping El Saler, T: (96) 183 00 23, open all year.

ACTIVITIES

Boating: boats can be hired, or boat trips taken, throughout L’Albufera.

Diving: contact the Federación Actividades Subacuáticas Levantina, Pl. San Nicolas, 2, València, T: (96) 386 50 23, F: 386 50 06.

Fishing: information/permits from the tourist office.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Tourist office:  

València, C/ Paz, 48, 46003, T: 398 64 22, F: 398 64 21. 

Park information:  

Centre d’Informació “Raco del’Olla”, El Palmar, T: (96) 162 73 45. Open Mon, Wed and Fri, 9 am-2 pm; Tues, Thurs, weekends and holidays, 9 am-2 pm and 3:30 pm-5:30 pm.