Turisme d’Elx :: Wildlife

The Park, covering 2,496 ha., is located between the municipalities of Elx and Santa Pola. It is an area of saltpans (Bras del Port and Bonmatí), of saltwater ponds, and bordered by salt marshes and a strip of dunes and beaches. It was declared a Nature Park 1988 by the Valencian Regional Government and is on the RAMSAR Wetlands Convention lists and is classified as a Special Protection Area for Birds, or ZEPA.
Las Salinas has three different types of plant formations: salt marsh, reed beds and dune vegetation. The salt marsh occupies the largest area and is Las Salinas most representative plant formation. It is populated by plant species specially adapted to survive in an extreme environment caused by the soil’s high concentration of salts. Such species include samphire, salton sea-blite and spatices. Among the numerous species of Limonii to be found in the Nature Park, the most noteworthy are autochthonous plants such as the Limonium santapolense.
Ditch weed (Phragmites australis) is widely distributed throughout the Park, colonising permanent waters with a low salinity as well as the edges of the irrigation ditches, their drainage ditches and canals. The dune vegetation is to be found bordering the beach from Torre del Pinet tower, reaching as far as the Casa de la Albufera.
Routes through las Salinas