The photosynthesis of a microalga has activated environmental tourism in the lagoons of Torrevieja and La Mata and, by extension, in the set of wetlands in the south of the province of Alicante. The weather conditions last spring, without episodes of rain and with the advance of high temperatures, favored the proliferation of the microorganisms that feed on brine shrimp, a tiny crustacean that, in turn, is the basis of the flamingo feeding. The presence of this bird, considered of great relevance for its attractiveness to humans, attracted other species, which have become a lure for tourists, mainly foreigners, interested in ornithology and nature. He group formed by the Torrevieja lagoonsthe Hondo of Elche, the salt flats of Santa Pola and those of San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia) have been filled with British and Nordic people with cameras and binoculars.
The spring weather in the south of Alicante aligned all the stars. “As it rains less and high temperatures are anticipated,” explains Rosa María Martínez, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Alicante (UA), “microorganisms grow and reproduce at a faster rate.” The lagoons of Torrevieja and La Mata became a paradise for microalgae dunaliella salina, whose development generates glycerol, a basic component for the life of bacteria and archaea, the two components of the brine shrimp menu. “The mixture of these organisms, which are red or intense pink, is what gives color to the characteristic plumage of flamingos,” says Martínez. But things could still improve. “Invertebrates need the saline concentration of the water to not be very high,” says Germán López Iborra, professor of Ecology at the UA. And late in the spring, it rained.
“In the first quarter of the year,” details Rubén Torregrosa, from the association of meteorology fans. Mastral Project, “in La Mata-Torrevieja only 25 liters per square meter were recorded.” Since April, however, there have already been “30 liters, with June being the rainiest month so far in 2024, with 16 liters” during its first fortnight. Furthermore, adds Juan Antonio Pujol, a biologist from the Torrevieja City Council, “the company that exploits the salt flats has allowed seawater to enter the La Mata lagoon,” where the salt is concentrated and then dumped into the Torrevieja lagoon, with the aim of to “maintain the buoyancy of the barges from which the salt extraction is carried out.”
The flamingos, which have been breeding in the pink lagoon since 2020, as the one in Torrevieja is known, “are very select,” says López Iborra. “They choose a quiet breeding area” and then they don’t mind “traveling hundreds of kilometers to eat.” In this case, it was not necessary. The menu was served at home.
The massive presence of flamingos in the three wetlands in the south of Alicante and Murcia, which form a single natural space, produced the same effect as finding many trucks parked in a roadside restaurant. The feast included “the slender-billed gull, very specialized in brine shrimp” and the “white shelduck, a very striking and large duck that nests in abandoned rabbit burrows,” says López Iborra.
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Also, Pujol continues, “the Audouin’s gull, the stilts, the avocets, the snowy plover or the Montagu’s harrier”, species whose habitat is based in the area or that came passing through on their summer migration towards the cool north. “Wetlands are very fluctuating, they go through very dry periods,” declares the UA professor, “and water birds are very mobile, they have a great capacity for adaptation.”
López Iborra warns that in wetlands a balance must be “achieved between the care of birds, invertebrates”, the rest of the fauna and human activity. Although he recognizes that flamenco is a “flagship species, one that favors a positive attitude towards environmental conservation.” And thus came the last link in this chain. “The presence of tourists in the wetlands in the south of Alicante has grown considerably these days,” certifies Fran Lucha, head of the Oxytours company, which organizes guided tours of the La Mata lagoon natural park on behalf of the Torrevieja council. “A month ago there weren’t so many,” he continues, but the response to the exuberance of “birdlife, perhaps the most recognized environmental value” is more than evident.
Lucha’s firm organizes tours of the park for 50 people, to whom they explain the characteristics, migratory routes and even the sounds produced, with the help of a tablet, of the birds they observe. But, both inside and outside these groups, tourists appear “who are surprised by the environmental value of Torrevieja”, beyond the sun, the beach and the paella. Above all, the Spanish. “Here we think of the Pyrenees, Picos de Europa, Doñana and Monfragüe” as centers for bird watching and fauna in general. The Champions League of nature, Lucha jokes. “But foreigners, who have more tradition and knowledge in ornithology, do know the richness of the south of Alicante, where they will see 20 or 25 species impossible to find in their countries.” The Europa League, continuing with the football comparison.
The typical profile of these visitors is “foreigners, especially British and Nordic, between 45 and 60 years old, with a medium-high cultural and economic level.” In any case, Lucha points out that natural tourism, even among Spaniards, “is increasing” and extends “throughout the entire year.” The only requirements are stillness, patience and silence. “It is important that tourists go to the places enabled for sightings, with their pets on a leash,” Torregrosa emphasizes.
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