A journey stopover

The lagoon of Gallocanta is a brackish water endorheic lagoon located at 1000m above sea level in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the largest continental brackish water lagoon in Europe and is currently a wetland of important ecological value that serves as a refuge for many species of birds. Among other birds, it lodges seasonally the cranes on their migratory route from their winter quarters in the south of the Iberian peninsula to their breeding areas in northern Europe.

Despite its undeniable ecological value it was about to be dried for agricultural use. Thanks to the rise of environmental movements and the promotion of the place as an ecotourism destination for bird watching, with special emphasis on cranes, it was possible to avoid the drying out of the lagoon.

Currently tens of thousands of cranes use the lagoon as a resting place during their migration and several thousand even spend all winter in it. They usually arrive at dusk and spend a few days in the lagoon resting and feeding. Each morning at dawn they leave the lagoon to eat in the surrounding fields and return at nightfall to sleep together in the security offered by the lagoon. During the day you can even see them performing ritual fights between males and their beautiful courtship dances.

At present, the lagoon enjoys good ecological health and is a management model that maintains conservation, ecotourism management and the agricultural use of the land by the surrounding populations in balance.