Turisme d’Elx :: Wildlife

This wetland area is unfortunately an excellent example of how tourist-related urban development has endangered coastal marshes. In 1978 Clot de Galvany suffered serious damage when it was subjected to drainage and earth moving activities which altered its aspect. Popular pressure saved it from being destroyed and Elx Town Hall took over its management and protection.
Clot de Galvany is home to an interesting grassland formation where the dominant species are feather grass and (Lygeum spartum) spatices (Limonium spp.). Nearby are vast examples of reeds dividing the grasses from the communities of succulent thicket, so typical of the salt marsh, occupying most of the land close to the ponds.
Surrounding the different bodies of water and growing on their banks are Waikiki pines that give way to marsh plants, dominated by ditch weed and aquatic plants with the presence of large extensions of beaked tassel weed and pondweed.
Next to the ponds are former farming terraces where inulins and bufalagas (Thymelaea hirsuta) dot the grasses and where we can also contemplate carob (Ceratonia siliqua) and olive (Olea europaea var. oleaster) trees.
The wetland is surrounded by a system of hills and downs that have been reforested mainly with Jerusalem pines although there are still areas of thorny thickets, the typical vegetation of such lands in Alicante. Among the most typical species to be found are the common bramble, mastic tree, turpentine tree and palmetto.
On these hills we can also find aromatic scrub, so typical of Elx’s uplands, with species such as the Arabian lavender (Thymus moroderi) and other species of thyme, rosemary and lavender (Lavandula dentata). We can also observe two of the five species of orchid to be found in the Comunidad Valenciana, or Valencian Region, giving an idea of the importance of this unique wetland.
Routes through El Clot de Galvany