Doñana National Park, also known as Parque Nacional y Natural de Doñana, is a natural reserve in Andalusia, southern Spain. It spans parts of the provinces of Huelva (mostly within the town of Almonte), Cádiz, and Seville. The park covers 543 kilometers (209.65 miles), with 135 kilometers (52.12 miles) designated as a protected area. It is named after Doña Ana de Silva y Mendoza, the wife of the 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia.

The park includes wetlands, shallow streams, and sand dunes in Las Marismas, the delta where the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean. It was created as a nature reserve in 1969 when the World Wildlife Fund partnered with the Spanish government to buy and protect part of the marshes. The ecosystem has faced challenges from draining the marshes, using river water for farming, pollution from mining upstream, and the growth of tourist facilities.

Doñana National Park is known for its unique biodiversity in Europe. It shares some similarities with the Parc Naturel Régional de Camargue in France, and the two parks are twinned. The area supports a wide range of ecosystems and is home to wildlife, including thousands of migratory birds from Europe and Africa, fallow deer, Spanish red deer, wild boars, European badgers, Egyptian mongooses, and endangered species like the Spanish imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx.

The Doñana nature reserve includes two areas: the Doñana National Park, established in 1969, and the Natural Park, created in 1989 and expanded in 1997 to form a protected buffer zone managed by the regional government. These two parks are now considered a single natural landscape. Because of its location between Europe and Africa near the Strait of Gibraltar, Doñana’s salt marshes serve as a breeding ground and transit point for thousands of birds, including up to 200,000 individuals during winter. Over 300 bird species can be seen there each year.

Doñana is the largest nature reserve in Europe. Scientific institutions have monitoring stations within its boundaries to help protect its threatened species and manage nearby land development. The area was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. In 2006, the park welcomed 376,287 visitors.

Geology and geomorphology

The geological features of Doñana National Park show how a deep underground water source and landforms developed over hundreds of thousands of years, creating habitats that support a wide variety of wildlife. After the last ice age ended, the area was covered by freshwater and brackish marshes, ponds, and sand dunes, with occasional saltwater intrusions from events like tsunamis and large storms. During the early part of the Flandrian interglacial period, global sea levels rose quickly due to melting ancient glaciers, reaching their highest point around 6,500 to 7,000 years ago. At this time, Doñana National Park and nearby areas were flooded, forming a lagoon that the Romans later named Lacus Ligustinus. Over the past 6,000 years, the lagoon has filled in more quickly, while sandspits have grown faster, and new inland marshes and wetlands have formed. Today, the large marshes of Doñana National Park have a flat landscape, with some low areas that hold temporary or permanent wetlands, known as "lucios" in the local area. The entire region is protected by the Doñana spit, a wide sandy coastal barrier with moving dunes that extend toward the southeast.

History

Although Doñana's landscape is a relatively recent feature in geological terms, Neolithic tools have been found in the area. Evidence suggests that ancient civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Phocaean Greeks, and Tartessians, may have lived there as far back as 2,800 years ago. However, no clear archaeological remains to prove this have been discovered. In 1923, German archaeologist Adolf Schulten, along with Adolf Lammerer and George Bonsor, searched for the ancient Tartessian capital in Almonte, where the Doñana dunes are located, but found no significant evidence. These excavations took place at Cerro del Trigo and were funded by the Duke of Tarifa and Denia, who owned Doñana at the time. In 1978, Schulten discovered the stele of Villamanrique near the town of Villamanrique de la Condesa. In 2007, surveys in the Hinojos salt marsh, or "Marisma de Hinojos," in Huelva province aimed to find traces of the mythical city Atlantis. Notable findings included remains of Roman settlements from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD, which were involved in fishing and making garum, a type of fish sauce. The Guadalquivir Marshes, or "Las Marismas del Guadalquivir," were once a large inland lake called Lacus Ligustinus in Latin. Over time, the lake filled with sediment, forming the current marshes.

In 1262, King Alfonso X established a royal hunting preserve called Real Cazadero in the Las Rocinas forest, between the Rio Tinto and the Guadalquivir rivers, partly because of the abundance of deer and a small sanctuary called Santa Olalla, which no longer exists. In 1297, King Sancho IV granted Guzmán el Bueno the Lordship of Sanlúcar, a territory near the Guadalquivir estuary. This land remained under the control of the House of Medina-Sidonia for over six centuries. The noble family was officially established in 1369 when Henry II of Castile granted the fourth Lord of Sanlúcar the County of Niebla. In 1493, the Catholic Monarchs gave part of the land in the village of El Rocío to a royal secretary, who later sold it to Almonte. At this time, new animals were introduced to local wild boar and deer populations, and wolf hunting was encouraged to protect cattle and horse ranches.

Nearly a century later, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán y Sotomayor, the 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia and commander of the Spanish Armada, purchased part of the land. His wife, Ana de Silva y Mendoza, moved to a country retreat called "Coto de Doña Ana," which became the origin of the name "Doñana." The house was later renovated into a palace. The name "Doñana" appears in the poem "La Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea" by Luis de Góngora, where he asks nobles to pause their hunting to listen to his verses. In 1624, King Philip IV visited the estate as a guest of the 9th Duke of Medina Sidonia and joined in large hunts. He brought many luxury items, including snow from the mountains for banquets. In 1797, Francisco Goya stayed at the palace as a guest of the 15th Duke of Medina Sidonia and his wife, the 13th Duchess of Alba. Goya created his Álbum A there and may have painted his famous portraits, "La Maja Vestida" and "La Maja Desnuda," which are said to depict the duchess.

After 1854, Antonio Machado y Nunez published a book called "Avifauna de Doñana," which highlighted the area's ecological importance due to its diverse wildlife. This led British naturalists like Abel Chapman and Walter J. Buck to visit Doñana and write books that raised awareness about its role as a stop for migratory birds heading to Africa. Later, José Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo y Caro, the 19th Duke of Medina Sidonia, inherited large debts and sold the Coto de Doñana for 750,000 pesetas, ending the family's ownership.

When William Garvey, a sherry baron, bought Doñana in 1901, the estate was abandoned and in ruins. Garvey restored the palace, and after his death, it passed to his brother Joseph and his niece Maria Medina y Garvey, who married the Duke of Tarifa, a forest engineer. In 1934, it passed to Blanca Medina y Garvey, who married the Marquis of Borghetto. In 1942, the Marquis sold the estate to a company formed by Salvador Noguera, Manuel Gonzalez, and the Marquis of Mérito. Fifty years later, the park was officially recognized as a natural area.

Mauricio González-Gordon y Díez, the Marquis of Bonanza, who owned a large estate in Doñana, became interested in the area's ecosystems and birdlife. He invited European ornithologists to visit. In 1952, Spanish ornithologists José Antonio Valverde and Francisco Bernis visited the property with González-Gordon as their guide. They noticed that the wetlands were threatened by plans to drain them for farming and plant eucalyptus trees. Mauricio and his father asked Bernis to persuade Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to abandon the plans. They wrote a memorandum presented to Franco by Mauricio's father, Manuel. By 1953, Bernis completed a report showing the area's ecological value. The group gained international support, and Franco agreed to stop the drainage plans.

In 1957, Valverde led the first organized scientific expedition to Doñana, joined by British naturalists Guy Mountfort, Roger Tory Peterson, and Sir Julian Huxley. European conservation experts, including Guy Mountfort, Max Nicholson, and Luc Hoffmann, later emphasized the area's importance as a stopover for birds migrating between Europe and Africa. In 1959, the González family sold part of their land for the Matalascañas resort, alarming conservationists. European institutions and donors offered to buy part of the property. Valverde, Hoffmann, and Nicholson, working with the British Nature Conservancy, raised two million Swiss Francs to purchase 7,000 hectares of land. In 1963, the Spanish government and WWF bought part of the territory to create the first Doñana preserve. In 1964, the Doñana Biological Station and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) were established to study the area's biodiversity.

Climate

Doñana Park has a mild, Mediterranean climate with dry summers and wetter winters. These weather patterns are influenced by changes in the polar front and a high-pressure area in the subtropical region. Rain occurs mainly in spring and autumn, with heavy rains often happening in autumn. This happens because heat builds up in nearby large water areas during summer, and cold air from the poles arrives later. In winter, warm high-pressure systems may form locally. Temperatures stay mild year-round, changing by about 17°C between winter and summer. The most important part of the climate is the 3 to 5 months of dry weather in summer, when the subtropical anticyclone controls the area.

Flora

The park has many types of plants, including trees like pines, flowers such as roses, and shrubs. Some important species include Vulpia fontquerana, Tursica linaria, Juniperus macrocarpa (maritime juniper), Micropyropsis tuberosa, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, and Thorella verticillatinundata. Many of these plants are endangered. The park service removes non-native plants such as eucalyptus, Acacia longifolia, Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Nicotiana glauca, and Carpobrotus edulis (cat's claw) to protect the ecosystem.

Other notable plants in the park include over 875 species native to the Doñana ecosystems. These include oleander, oak, sea wallflower, sweet saltwort, prickly tumbleweed, marram grass, heather, camarina, lavender, sea holly, reed, carnation, bulrush, common fern, sage-leaved rock rose, rushes, labiérnago (Phillyrea angustifolia), sea spurge, mastic, sedge, palm, pine, Scotch broom, rosemary, juniper, gorse, thyme, spurge, and blackberries.

The mobile dunes, also called transdunes, are shaped by strong south-west winds and are rare in the Iberian Peninsula. The tough conditions of this ecosystem are shown by how some plants have adapted to survive there. The dunes are made of loose sand and soil, which shift over time. One well-known feature of this area is the slow burial of plants, especially trees that grow and then die as sand moves gradually across the land.

Fauna

The park is home to 142 types of fish, including 20 that live in freshwater areas, 10 types of amphibians, 13 types of reptiles, 37 types of mammals, and 360 types of non-marine birds. Of these birds, 127 have raised young in the park.

More than 140 fish species live in the park. Eight of these are found only in the Iberian Peninsula. These include the Iberian nase, Southern straight-mouth nase, and Iberian arch-mouthed nase, which are not at risk of extinction. Other species, such as the Southern Iberian spined loach, Andalusian barbel, and calandino, are at risk of disappearing. The Southern Iberian chub is critically endangered, as is the Baetican toothcarp, which is found only in the Doñana system. Five other non-endemic fish species are declining in the park. These include vulnerable populations of black goby, black-striped pipefish, and greater pipefish, as well as critically endangered populations of twait shad and sea lamprey. Fish such as European sea sturgeon, allis shad, and three-spined stickleback were once in the park but are now gone. Common native species include big-scale sand smelt, common goby, and sand goby. Ten non-native species live in the park, including eight listed as invasive in Spain: common bleak, common carp, eastern mosquitofish, mummichog, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed, rainbow trout, and black bullhead. Two other non-invasive species are goldfish and Prussian carp.

Reptiles in Doñana Park include the European pond turtle, Spanish pond turtle, spur-thighed tortoise, Iberian worm lizard, Bedriaga's skink, western three-toed skink, common wall gecko, spiny-footed lizard, ocellated lizard, Carbonell's wall lizard, Andalusian wall lizard, Psammodromus manuelae, Spanish psammodromus, horseshoe whip snake, ladder snake, southern smooth snake, Montpellier snake, false smooth snake, viperine snake, grass snake, Lataste's viper, loggerhead turtle, and leatherback turtle.

Over 300 bird species have been recorded in the area. Some are found only in small areas, such as the Spanish imperial eagle, marbled teal, white-headed duck, and red-knobbed coot. Wetland birds include glossy ibis, western swamphen, ferruginous duck, Eurasian spoonbill, red-crested pochard, little and cattle egret, night and squacco heron, and greater flamingo. Other areas may have hoopoe, Eurasian thick-knee, Spanish sparrow, Mediterranean short-toed lark, and pin-tailed sandgrouse. Many summer birds visit the park, including purple heron, gull-billed tern, greater short-toed lark, short-toed eagle, European roller, western olivaceous warbler, Savi's warbler, little bittern, booted eagle, whiskered tern, and rufous scrub robin.

The park has 38 types of mammals, including 12 bat species, red deer, European rabbit, European hedgehog, common genet, wildcat, wild boar, Iberian lynx, garden dormouse, Egyptian mongoose, greater white-toothed shrew, Eurasian otter, wood mouse, European polecat, red fox, European badger, Mediterranean pine vole, southwestern water vole, and black rat.

The Iberian lynx lives only in the Iberian Peninsula and is the most endangered big cat. Its population dropped sharply, leading to its protection in 1966. Today, the only surviving groups are in the Natural Parks of Sierra de Andujar, Cardena, Montoro, and Doñana, as well as nearby areas. In Portugal, efforts to save the lynx’s habitat created the Sierra Malcata Natural Reserve.

The Acebuche Breeding Centre in Doñana has a program to breed Iberian lynxes in captivity. This program has helped 11 lynxes born at the centre and over 30 captured in the park survive. These efforts face challenges, including high lynx deaths and laws being broken by allowing cars into the park. The causes of some deaths are unclear. The Iberian lynx is now a symbol of the park for the public.

Two native horse breeds live in Doñana: the Marismeño and the Retuertas. The Retuertas is one of the oldest European breeds, possibly dating to around 1000 BC, and is the only breed that lives wild and isolated from others.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, a group of wild dromedaries lived in the area. They may have been brought to Spain during the Moorish Conquest in the 8th century or escaped from a herd introduced from the Canary Islands in 1829 by the Marquis de Molina. By the 1950s, only eight dromedaries remained, but poachers threatened them. By the early 1960s, only three were left. More were released after being used in the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.

Natural Park of Doñana: Preparque

• Abalario–Asperillo. This area is located west of the national park, stretching from Matalascañas to Mazagon. It forms a rectangle 25 kilometers long and extends about 5 kilometers inland. The region includes dunes, old lagoons, wetlands, and a large forest with pine and eucalyptus trees. It is home to many animals, including the Iberian lynx. The area includes the towns of Matalascañas and Mazagon, as well as the El Arenosillo test center, which is used for launching suborbital rockets. However, the area was declared a national park, which stopped plans for a large city development near Matalascañas.

• Preparque Norte–Pinares de Hinojos. This area is north of the national park, extending from El Rocío to Hinojos. It has wetlands and forests. The Pinar del Pinto in Coto del Rey, located between Aznalcázar and Villamanrique de la Condesa, is a habitat for several types of birds of prey.

• Preparque Este–Brazo de la Torre-Entremuros. This area is east of the national park, between Brazo de la Torre and the Guadalquivir River. It has marshes and caños, which are tidal channels that reach into muddy wetlands. This region attracts birds that live in Doñana during the summer and during winters when drought occurs. Some of the marshes have been turned into rice fields.

• Pinar de la Algaida–Marismas de Bonanza. This area is southeast of the national park and north of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the left side of the Guadalquivir River. It includes a large pine forest and marshes near Salinas. These marshes are the only ones still flooded by tides (others depend only on freshwater and rain), and they are home to flamingos and avocets. The word "Algaida" comes from Arabic and means a place with trees and bushes. El Pinar de la Algaida is near the henarllo, a sanctuary for the female goddess Astarte, and the Roman well of Caveros. People have been restocking this area with animals since the early 1800s, and it now has a large group of black kites.

Environmental issues

After the Aznalcóllar Dam disaster in 1998, more people became aware of the environmental dangers facing the countryside. Studies and environmental groups have warned for many years about problems that harm the area’s plants, animals, water, and soil. While the growth of cities and the pressure it places on nature has been a concern for a long time, there are other risks too. UNESCO has looked at adding the park to its list of World Heritage in Danger several times, but it has not yet done so.

There have been several issues related to projects near the park. A plan to build an oil pipeline between Extremadura and the port of Huelva has been criticized by environmental groups. They say the pipeline would increase the number of oil tankers in the area, raising the risk of oil spills. Frequent dredging of the Guadalquivir River to allow ships to reach the port of Seville has disrupted the natural balance of the estuary. Adena, a nature protection group linked to WWF, says the movement of ships brings new animals into the area through ballast water, which can carry foreign species.

The Port of Huelva, located near the Natural Park, is a major environmental threat. Francisco Bella, a former mayor and current senator, says it is strange that the pipeline project was approved while the government is investing in renewable energy. As mayor, he noted the challenges of creating jobs near the park: “We know a lot about the ant and the lynx, but we need to understand how jobs develop in Doñana.” Ginés Morata, a biologist and former leader of the Doñana Participation Council, says the pipeline would bring hundreds of oil tankers near the park each year, increasing the chance of oil spills.

Another problem is the removal of water for farming. Since the late 1980s, water use for crops like cotton, rice, and strawberries has doubled. Strawberries are grown in greenhouses, covering about 4,500 to 6,000 hectares in the Doñana area, producing most of Spain’s strawberries. Illegal wells have been dug to take water from underground sources, and water use by nearby homes and rivers may harm the park’s water systems. Other risks include saltwater moving into the area because of climate change and desertification, which could be addressed by a recent water transfer project.

In 2007, the World Wildlife Fund warned that strawberry farms near the park, where 95% of Spain’s strawberries are grown, could harm the park by draining groundwater and creating pollution. However, a WWF spokesperson said the group does not usually support total boycotts of products.

On April 25, 1998, a dam at the Los Frailes mine near Aznalcóllar burst, releasing 4–5 million cubic meters of toxic mine waste. The waste, containing harmful metals, flowed into the River Agrio and then the Guadiamar River, traveling about 40 kilometers before being stopped. Cleanup took three years and cost about €240 million. Although the waste was diverted to the sea, the event showed how vulnerable Doñana’s ecosystems are to disasters.

To protect the park and surrounding areas, an International Commission of Experts met in 1992 to create a plan for sustainable development. This plan became the mission of the Doñana 21 Foundation, formed in 1997 with support from the Andalusian government and local banks. The plan aimed to protect the environment, work with governments and organizations, and promote sustainable farming, such as organic rice. Since then, groups like WWF, businesses, and unions have joined the foundation to help achieve its goals.

In 2013, the Spanish government approved the construction of a pipeline near the park.

The town of Almonte, where the park is located, has a long history of religious celebrations. Ancient Iberians worshipped nature and water, and early Christians adapted these traditions into their beliefs. A chapel dedicated to St. Mary of Rocinas was built around 1270, and the Marian devotion became important after the area was reconquered in 1262. The image of the Virgin at El Rocío dates to the 13th century, and it became popular in the 16th century. Today, the annual pilgrimage to El Rocío, which draws a million visitors, has raised concerns about its impact on the park’s environment.

The pilgrimage causes overcrowding in areas like El Rocío, Piara del Acebuchal, and the Moguer road. While the event has brought attention to the park, it has also increased the risk of wildfires, damaged the ground from vehicles, and required more resources for monitoring.

Wildfires are a common problem in the park, as seen in past events like the Doñana fire.

Doñana Biological Station

Doñana Biological Station (Estación Biológica de Doñana) is a research center focused on studying land ecosystems. It was established in 1964 by the Spanish government and the World Wildlife Fund to support scientific research on local ecosystems. This research also includes studying ecosystems in other countries. The station, managed by the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – CSIC), operates research facilities in Seville, the Doñana Biological Reserve in Almonte, and a Field Station in the Natural Park of Sierras de Cazorla, Segura, and Las Villas in Jaén. After the World Wildlife Fund was founded in 1961, one of its first actions was purchasing 6,794 hectares of the Doñana estate called "Las Nuevas" in 1963. This land was later given to the CSIC, which declared it a Biological Reserve and built the Estación Biológica de Doñana in 1964. In 1968, the World Wildlife Fund purchased another 3,214 hectares of Doñana, which became the Guadiamar Biological Reserve.

Saca de las Yeguas

Another important event that has been happening for a long time in the park is called La Saca de las Yeguas ("The Gathering of the Mares"). This event is related to the wild horses that live in the salt marshes of Doñana. It takes place on June 26, after the Feast of St. John the Baptist is celebrated. At this time, people gather mares and their baby foals in a traditional way.

Other points of interest

• Acebrón Palace. Built in the 1960s by Luis Espinosa Fondevilla as a home and hunting lodge, it now serves as the park visitor center.
• Palace of Lomo del Grullo [es], an old royal house in the northern part of the park, is also known as Palacio del Rey, Palacio de la Dehesa del Rey, or Coto del Rey.
• The Acebuche Visitor Center, located in an old farmhouse, is the starting point for park visits. It includes trails and birdwatching stations near a lake of the same name.
• Bajo de Guía Visitor Center. Located in Sanlucar de Barrameda, it was designed for visitors to Doñana Natural Park.
• Ice House Visitor Center (Centro de Visitantes Fábrica de Hielo). Situated in Sanlucar de Barrameda in the Bajo de Guía neighborhood, this early 20th-century former ice house now hosts visitors to Doñana National Park. A dock for the Real Fernando, a boat that travels up the Guadalquivir River to La Plancha, is nearby.
• La Plancha, a reconstructed village with marshland cabins on the west bank of the Guadalquivir River, was last inhabited in the 1980s. From La Plancha, visitors can access the Llanos de Velázquez and Llanos de la Plancha, which include natural observation points.
• Historic Areas of the Peoples of the Comarca (Region).
• Matalascañas Dune Park and Marine World Museum, located on a dune system, opened in 2002 but was closed in 2012 due to debts from the managing organization, Fundacion Donaña 21, a branch of the Junta de Andalucía.