Spanish lagoon popular with breeding flamingos dries up as drought persists

Thousands of pairs of flamingos graced Spain’s famous Fuente de Piedra southern wetlands last year to hatch their chicks in what was one of the largest colonies of these iconic wading birds in Europe. Not any more.

Figures of flamingos are silhouetted, through a window, against a dried up lagoon, where a colony of flamingos have not been able to nest, as annually, due to severe drought, at the Fuente de Piedra natural reserve in Fuente de Piedra, near Malaga, southern Spain, June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Only a few dozen adult birds could be seen on Saturday after a prolonged drought in Spain, which has dried up the saltwater lagoon and forced most migrating birds to avoid the wetland.

“It is a shame because of the tourism, people come here for the day. Normally the lagoon is full of flamingos. There are also many other birds. It looks like climate change is causing this,” local resident Alberto Gonzalez Sanchez, 53, told Reuters on Saturday.

Africa Lupion, curator of the Fuente de Piedra natural space, told the Cadena Ser radio station in February that the rain level was at its lowest since 1995.

General view of a dried up lagoon at sunrise, where a colony of flamingos have not been able to nest, as annually, due to the severe drought, at the Fuente de Piedra natural reserve in Fuente de Piedra, near Malaga, southern Spain, June 17, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Since 1984, when it was declared a natural reserve, more than 200,000 flamingo chicks have hatched at the lagoon, which is located in the Malaga province, according to Andalusia’s Office for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable.

This year’s spring was the hottest and second-driest in Spain since records began in 1961, with higher-than-average temperatures likely to continue this summer. (Reuters)