Laguna de Fuente Piedra

The José Antonio Valverde Visitor Centre stands atop a small hill known as the Cerro del Palo, overlooking the Laguna de Fuente Piedra lagoon.

*This outstanding location very close to the lagoon provides visitors with magnificent views of the water and the bird species which frequent it, both from inside the building itself and from the pathways and observation points around it. One of the birds visible here is the common flamingo, for which this is the most important nesting area in the Iberian Peninsula, Indeed the flamingo is the core theme for much of the exhibition in the visitor centre.

The lagoon, which is also frequented by other unique birds, mostly waterfowl, supports plants specially adapted to saltwater environments, and the exhibition illustrates all these feature in an entertaining, stimulating manner which helps to open visitors' eyes to the ecological importance of a wetland area that has been granted official Nature Reserve status. It also looks at the ways in which Man has influenced the physical appearance of the lagoon and the ecological importance of salt mining in the past.

How to get there: From the A-92 Seville-Almería dual carriageway take exit 132 for Fuente de Piedra/Humilladero/Laguna de Fuente de Piedra and enter the village of Fuente de Piedra, following the directions to the lagoon. To reach the visitor centre, take the road along the lagoon's sand flats towards Cerro del Palo.

* This was taken from the Government's environmental website at: Data sheet on Laguna de Piedra and, apart from the photo of the centre, the pictures are our own taken in April 2011