PARQUE NACIONAL DE DOÑANA

Description

For centuries, Doñana served as the hunting grounds for kings and members of the nobility, from the time of King Alfonso X, the Wise King, to the Duke and Duchess of Medina Sidonia and other aristocrats, up to the early 20th century.

The relationship between Sanlúcar and Doñana is a historical one, based on the way man has benefitted from its resources, such as the use of the marshes as salt flats, the production of charcoal, etc.

Doñana has been named National Park, World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve. Its surface area spans 50,720 hectares and is made up of a number of different ecosystems (mobile dunes, marshes as part of Europe´s largest extension of wetlands, it is also a major stop-over for migrating birds to rest and nest on the route between Europe and Africa and has one of Europe´s most important faunal inventories, being home to a great number of different animal species.

The Visitors´ Centre, known as Fábrica de Hielo, provides information on Doñana National Park and distributes informational material relating to its natural, historical and ethnographical aspects.

Doñana National Park is accessible by 4-wheel drive vehicles through the park´s inner road network or by ferry-crossing at the estuary of the Guadalquivir River, or both.

Services

• Four-wheel drive vehicle tour of the park

• Ferryboat Sanlúcar-Guadalquivir-Doñana