Want to get away from Barcelona’s fast pace for a while? South of the city, there’s a national park on the coast that’s as beautiful as Florida’s Everglades and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It features incredible wildlife and multiple ecosystems, plus plenty of ways to explore the surroundings facing the Mediterranean. Here are some facts about the Delta del Ebro and some of the sights to see around it.
Related article: Explore Catalonia’s rivers and lakes
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What is Delta del Ebro?
Photo by Miquel Lleixà Mora [NotPRO] via Visuahunt
The Ebro Delta is one of the largest wetlands in Western Europe with over 79,000 acres of land. It includes many natural habitats that aren’t common in Catalonia, such as freshwater and saltwater lakes, stretches of beaches and salt wastelands, shallow bays, fluvial islands, and man-made ecosystems like rice fields and salt pans. It’s also home to some impressive wildlife with several types of flowers and plants, 95 species of birds who breed there, and a variety of reptiles, fish, and amphibians.
Another physical landscape to explore is the Punta del Fangar, a peninsula at the north of the Ebro River that provides an extensive coastline with a sand dune system. The peninsula is about 6 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide until reaching its thinnest point where the water coverts the sand into mud, or Fangar in Catalan, hence the name.
Activities at Delta del Ebro
Photo by aaamsss via Visualhunt
Ebro Delta Natural Park was declared in 1983 with nearly 20,000 acres of land for trekking, swimming, and kayaking. The natural pools and lakes at the Delta are safe for swimming, and the Ebro’s beaches provide a natural relaxation spot to take in the sun and surrounding nature. At the tip of the Fangar, visitors can see the lighthouse, the only point of reference along the peninsula. Visitors can travel along the peninsula by car or bike, but it is, however, closed at certain times of the year in order to protect the nesting area of the birds. You can check out the Delta del Ebro map to find all the places for swimming, going on kayak excursions, or walking along the coastline.
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Want to visit in Delta del Ebro? Take the C-32 and AP-7 for a two-hour, 176-kilometer drive towards the town of Amposta. The delta is well worth a visit, listed on the Ramsar Convention, a list of wetlands of international importance for conservation and cultural, scientific, and recreational use. Come on down for a weekend of peace and quiet in the natural beauty surrounding the delta.
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