Delta de l'Ebre Natural Park

Nature area / Countryside / Open space, Natural parks, PEIN (Plan for areas of natural interest), Natura 2000 network, Natura 2000 Network: Special Protection Area (SPA)

The Ebro Delta, with a surface area of 123 square miles, plays host to the largest aquatic habitat in Catalonia, as well as a rich variety of atmospheres distinguished by the convergence of marine and mainland environments.

The Ebro Delta, covering an area of 320 km2, the largest aquatic habitat in Catalonia and offers a rich diversity of environments. River, sea, bays, beaches, dunes, saltmarshes, riverside woodlands, coastal lagoons, fluvial islands and ullals (pools), make up its natural landscape, and, along with the rice paddies, are home to a great variety of living things (birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and so on) adapted to the different habitats.

This biological wealth contrasts with the extensive human presence. To ensure harmony between the natural values and their exploitation by local people, and at their behest, in 1983 the Government of Catalonia declared the Ebro Delta a natural park (7,802 ha).

The importance of the delta is recognised worldwide: Bureau MAR list, Site of Community Importance for its halophyte plants, Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds, Natura 2000 site and Ramsar site (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance). Recently it has been accredited as an area under the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas and as a European destination of Excellence (EDEN).

As a wetland, the delta is a productive environment on which innumerable plant and animal species depend for their survival. The marshes develop many vital functions, such as waters storage, protection against storms, stabilisation of the coast, recycling of nutrients and pollutants, etc. It also offers economic benefits for local communities through the traditional exploitation of its natural resources: fishing, hunting, agriculture, stockbreeding, saltpans and, more recently, tourism.

The convergence of the marine and mainland environment gives rise to a large number of fish species (about 50). As for birds, over 400 species have been cited in the delta for it houses some of the most important seabird breeding colonies in the Mediterranean. A total of 764 species of flora have been cited: A large number have had to adapt to the extreme conditions and colonise dunes, hypersaline soils, areas permanently under water, etc.

The uniqueness of the delta can be seen in its geography and natural environment, and also in its local traditions, culture, architectural heritage and history.

The Natural Park is everyone's heritage, let's take care of it!

Virtual tour:

- Delta de l'Ebre 1
- Delta de l'Ebre 2
- Gola de Migjorn
- Punta de la Banya
- Salines del delta de l'Ebre
- Bassa de les Olles

Year of declaration: 1983, ampliat el 1986
Regulations: Act 332/1986, declaration of the Ebro Delta Natural Park and the Partial Nature Reserves of Punta de la Banya and Sapinya Island.
Area: 7802
Ownership: Mixed or both
District: Amposta; Ampolla, l'; Sant Jaume d'Enveja; Deltebre; Sant Carles de la Ràpita.
Visitor centres: S

Annual closing: Open all year round
Opening hours - summer : Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:30
Opening hours - winter: Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 17:30
How to get there: Main N-340 road through Amposta and Sant Carles de la Ràpita along the Ebro Delta. By train: Amposta, Camarles and l´Ampolla stations on the Barcelona-Valencia line.
Languages: Catalan, Spanish

Facilities

Access for disabled people

Accommodation

Parking

Picnic area

Bar/cafeteria

Shop

Restaurant

Viewpoint

Signposted itineraries

Flora

The landscape and plant communities of the Ebro Delta are an excellent example of the lacustrine and coastal vegetation of Catalonia, which at the same time includes several singularities of great importance in terms of biodiversity. There are over five hundred superior plant species, some of which are of great specificity. For example, Limoniastrum monopetalum or Zygophyllum album, a Saharan species which is unique in Europe. The bays of El Fangar and Els Alfacs and the areas of open sea provide highly suitable environments for the development of a fascinating community of algae typically found on sandy coasts influenced by a delta, among which we can find Corallina elongata and Lythophyllum incrustans. Sandy and dune environments are also well represented in the delta, boasting communities of Ammophiletum arundinaceae and Agropyretum mediterraneum. Lakes, saline areas, sea beds and river islands are also rich in rare plant species.

Fauna

The birdlife of the Ebro delta is important on an international scale. Species of maximum interest include the shoveler and the widgeon, as well as the shelduck, the gadwall, the teal and the pochard. It is also worth mentioning the western marsh harrier, the short-eared owl, the bittern, the little bittern, the black-crowned night heron, the squacco heron, the cattle egret, the little egret, the grey heron, the purple heron, the flamingo, the great crested grebe, the black-winged stilt, the avocet, the collared pratincole, the slender-billed gull and the Andouin’s gull, among the more than four hundred species that can be found here.

Routes

El Parque Natural cuenta con una amplia red de caminos que permiten descubrir los lugares más interesantes del delta del Ebro, ya sea a pie, en bicicleta, a caballo o incluso en barca. El cicloturismo es la actividad estrella, y existen nueve itinerarios diseñados para recorrer en bicicleta, entre los cuales: Ecomuseo-Fangar, Amposta-río Migjorn o Fachada fluvial de Deltebre. La laguna Bassa de les Olles dispone de cuatro itinerarios para descubrir la naturaleza a pie.

Bird-watching tourism

En otoño, y especialmente durante los meses de octubre y noviembre, miles de pájaros colonizan el delta del Ebro, de paso en su migración o en el inicio de su hibernación, aunque las aves están presentes durante todo el año. El Parque Natural cuenta con una docena de miradores elevados, situados en lugares estratégicos para la observación ornitológica.