About

The first impression that the Bay of Cadiz natural park gives is of a complex, disorganised landscape, which transforms on impulse Nothing could be further from the truth: water, sun, wind and man gallop at the same rhythm in an area that depicts the perfect harmony between land and sea.

To the northeast of the capital this shallow maritime bay, formerly an ancient estuary that received waters from the Guadalete and San Pedro rivers, occupies a large intertidal extension - marshes of the Peninsula Toruños Marsh, Sancti Petri and Trocadero Island- surrounded by a complex system of salt mines- Arillo River, spouts - Sancti Petri, Zurraque, Trocadero-, estuaries and small lagoons. Some exceptional beaches, such as Levante, Camposoto and The Cap-, have more than 3,000 hours of sunshine and are the best of this natural area.

Fauna and flora

The water, which passes through spouts and estuaries flooding the bay at intervals, the wind and the salt are contributing factors of the predominant vegetation. Cord grass, glasswort or maritime purslane, among others, have an important presence, whilst in the transition of the marshland into firm land there are grasses such as rostraria and barren brome On the intertidal plains, rich in nutrients, there are submerged meadows of gracilaria and algae, such as ulva linza and the sea lettuce. These seafloors, rich in food, half way between The Strait and the Doñana marshes, play an important role in the migratory movements of birds, enabling many birds to winter on the coast: mud-dwelling birds, waders, seagulls, anatidae, coots and water pullets, osprey, common and little terns, with the largest colonies of the Iberian Peninsula, and increasingly larger numbers of cormorant, are good examples. Shellfish also plays an important role in the waters of the Bay of Cadiz, giving rise to one of the most traditional activities of this land.

The dunes, both moving or established, allow for the presence of a great botanical variety, such as marram grass, spiny thrift and broom; while in its surroundings there are pine forests, like those of Algaida and Los Toruños, where the stone pine shelters an undergrowth able to withstand the winds and salty atmosphere. These forests are a sanctuary for birds such as blackbirds, robins, owls and kestrels, as well as for chameleons, amphibians and mammals like the European hedgehog and the dormouse.