Tablas de Daimiel National Park

Spring in the Park

The passage is over, but the nesting birds can be observed by visitors at their leisure. It is the time of nuptial flights and strutting, of nesting and broods. . White-winged Fumarel (Chlidonias hybridus)

The marsh reaches its splendour, Las Tablas is dressed in green, the buttercups emerge from the water and the tamarisks begin their flowering which lasts until the beginning of summer.

The visitor can watch with anticipation the nuptial flights of the ducks, and the ascents and descents of the marsh harrier. The white-faced terns fly over the waters, the little tern dives in search of food. Avocets, redshanks and reed warblers are part of a long list of birds that can be seen during the spring months.

Kentish plovers scurry along the muddy beaches, stilts swarm everywhere at the water’s edge, yellow wagtails search for insects in the grasslands near the water. In the nearby fields you can hear the songbirds and lapwings. Among the reeds, the first young of the purple heron are fluttering, mallard and red-crested pochard chicks are starting their flights, the great crested grebe has two or three tiny chicks swimming behind it. Stonechats, redstarts, warblers and gnatcatchers stop in the tamarisks in search of food.

At dusk, the amphibians and reptiles can be heard in the park, the concert of songs is deafening. It is not uncommon to find the European pond turtle swimming in the waters or sunbathing on clear days.

Summer in the Park

The river Gigüela loses water and the ponds begin the path towards a temporary drying up while waiting for a rainy autumn.

The Tablas lose water day by day, the heat is intense and invites silence, broken by the cry of the occasional grebe or reed warbler in the marsh.

Storks, plovers, terns and gulls eat in the shallow water. Moorhens, moorhens, coots and skimmers roam the muddy edges of the marsh. Bar-doves, turtle doves and wood pigeons come to Las Tablas to quench their thirst. The concentration of Mallards is spectacular.

The teals gather in small groups to set off on their imminent journey to Africa.

At the end of the summer the first black-tailed godwits, snipes and grey herons arrive from northern Europe and the purple herons gradually disappear in search of their wintering quarters.

Storms are frequent and at the end of the summer a part of Las Tablas remains dry.

Autumn in the Park

During this season the peak of the duck migration is reached and the visitor can get to know the most common species of ducks that frequent the area. The water flows down the rivers and the eggs swell.

From northern Europe, the shoveler and teal are the first ducks to arrive in the Park in autumn, and you can also see the advance guard of wigeons and pochards. Fighters, redshanks and other waders make a stopover on their journey to Africa. The first cranes cross the sky and Mallards fly over the park in search of the southern marshes. Mallards debut their plumage. The first flocks of lapwings stand out among the wastelands.

As autumn progresses, Las Tablas fills with water, the frosts become more and more frequent and the mists give the park a ghostly appearance. In this environment we can hear teals and wigeons, the last of the winter ducks to arrive.

In the farmland near the park, flocks of wheatears flit about, and the white wagtail is everywhere to be seen. Among the tamarisk trees, now leafless, we can see the robin.

At dusk, the flights of the ducks, the noise of the black-headed gulls and the cry of the grey herons add a note of life to Las Tablas.

Winter in the Park

Mists envelop Las Tablas in the morning and sometimes do not dissipate all day. The winter mallards are in full swing. It is the time of the dead marshes; the yellow, leafless reeds, inhabited by starlings and wheatears, contrast with the blue of the water.

Teal, spoonbills, pintails, whistlers and pochards roost in shallower areas and are only disturbed at dusk by the marsh harrier. Grey herons fly over the marshes and stalk their food at the water’s edge.

The mallard, the most precocious of all, is clearly showing its heat. The short, broken whistling of coots can be heard in the undergrowth, grebes can be seen in the shallows and groups of sandpipers can be seen at the water’s edge.

At the end of winter, the first teals can be seen breeding, the red-crested pochards begin to be jealous and the coots build their nests in the flooded marshes. The tamarisk groves are home to little egrets and the nocturnal night heron lets its cry be heard, for the first time in the year, as it flies towards the feeding grounds at dusk.

Beneath its surface, an immense stone sponge

Under the surface of Las Tablas there is a limestone framework. The fissured karst beneath La Mancha is the largest known in Spain. Over the centuries, rainwater seepage first decomposed the limestone, then soaked it and turned it into a huge wet sponge. Once full, it began to release water, giving rise to the most unique spot in La Mancha: Los Ojos del Guadiana. The Guadiana river, after being born in the Lagunas de Ruidera, on its way to Las Tablas, filtered little by little into the limestone until it disappeared completely in Argamasilla de Alba, being reborn 50 km to the west from the so-called “Ojos del Guadiana” (Eyes of the Guadiana).

The origin of the Tablas

Over the centuries, in the lower Guadiana, large pools were formed, meadows and riverside forests grew. On its banks, fishing communities were established and in the adjoining meadows, small waterwheels irrigated the vegetable gardens. This is the origin of Las Tablas de Daimiel, the result of the union of the waters of the Gigüela and the Guadiana (15 km downstream from its source in Los Ojos), which give rise to a wide overflow, causing large puddles and flooding areas due to the lack of unevenness in the terrain.

A unique wetland

The Tablas de Daimiel are considered a Wetland of International Importance on the list of nearly 200 wetlands in Europe and North Africa under the Ramsar Convention. They are strategically located on the migratory routes of thousands of birds and for many years have been used as a resting area. Many of these birds even choose this area to spend the winter.

The Tablas de Daimiel can only be understood within the framework of the so-called “Wetlands of La Mancha”, made up of dozens of lagoons, many of which are threatened with extinction.

Some are endorheic in nature, where the water, with a high degree of salinity, accumulates in the depressions in the ground; others are formed by the accumulation of water in the craters of ancient volcanoes and finally, Las Tablas de Daimiel, fluvial overflows that originate at the confluence of the rivers Gigüela and Guadiana.

Until a few years ago, both rivers mixed their waters during overflows, creating a very peculiar ecosystem. On the one hand, the river Gigüela, which comes from the mountains of Cuenca, provided brackish water, while the river Guadiana contributed fresh water.

The reality is quite different. As a result of the drought of previous years and the overexploitation of groundwater (aquifer 23) for irrigation purposes, the only surface water that enters Las Tablas comes from the river Gigüela, which, thanks to the rains of recent years, is once again entering the Park through the surface. In addition, water from the Peñarroya reservoir, via the river Gigüela, has recently been reaching Las Tablas.

A climate marked by drought

Winter in Las Tablas de Daimiel is cold and summer is dry and hot, reaching temperatures of 40ºC. Rainfall is scarce and low. Rainfall is scarce and is around 450 mm per year, with peaks in autumn and spring, although in some years between 1980 and 1995 it did not reach 300 mm. There are no more than three days of frost, snow or hail per year, while the number of days of storms, fog or frost increases considerably.

Aquifer 23, a large groundwater pocket

Another peculiarity is the close dependence on groundwater. The key piece of the hydrological system of the upper Guadiana basin is the Mancha Occidental aquifer or aquifer 23, which extends over an area of more than 5,000 km2 and over which 40 municipalities are located. The National Park sits on a limestone substratum which acts as a sponge and can act as a natural overflow for the aquifer beneath it.

In the mid-1970s, man’s balance with the wetland was broken, the irrigated area using groundwater increased considerably and water extraction was much higher than the annual recharge, causing a drop in the water table, the cancellation of natural discharges, the most spectacular being the “Ojos del Guadiana” and the disappearance of the Guadiana river at its headwaters.