The flamingoes have returned to Puente de Piedra after the drought.Credit: Diputación de Málaga.
The lake at Fuente de Piedra, in Malaga province, is back teeming with life since recent heavy downpours, and the flamingoes have returned.
The long-awaited heavy rainfall has transformed this natural reserve, erasing the bleak scenes of drought from previous years and restoring its role as a critical habitat for flamingoes. A walk through the area reveals the wetland’s full nature’s splendour, one of Andalusia’s most iconic ecosystems.
The lake, the largest temporary wetland in Andalusia and the second largest in the Iberian Peninsula, has seen its water levels rise significantly in the last couple of months, covering nearly the entire basin. This resurgence of life-giving water has ensured the return of flamingoes, which began nesting a couple of weeks ago. Typically, the lagoon’s depth does not exceed 50 centimetres, and it often dries up in summer. However, exceptional springs, like that of 2019, have seen water persist into the warmer months.
Declared a ‘Natural Reserve’ in 1984 and listed under the Ramsar Convention and Natura 2000 network, Fuente de Piedra is recognised globally for conserving the common flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus). Spring rains revitalised the landscape, enabling thousands of flamingoes to return and establish a new colony on the central islet. Over the past 41 years, flamingoes have nested here 35 times, with more than 230,000 chicks born.
The visitors centre at Cerro del Palo next to Fuente de Piedra is open from 10pm until 5pm and can be reached driving on the A-92 taking exit 132. It’s less than an hour from Malaga. Reservations can be made on 951 700 339.
