Logbook · 5 places

Gallocanta Crane Reserve

Gallocanta, Campo de Daroca, Zaragoza

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

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Gallocanta Crane Reserve

Curiosity · Gallocanta, Campo de Daroca, Zaragoza

Image of Gallocanta, not of the place itself.

The Gallocanta lagoon, between the provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel, is the largest natural lagoon on the Iberian Peninsula and, together with that of Fuente de Piedra, one of the largest salt lagoons in Europe, covering 1,924 hectares plus a further 4,553 of protected peripheral zone. Enclosed in an endorheic basin between the sierras of Santa Cruz, Pardos, Menera and Caldereros, its waters come from underground streams and reach a salinity ten times higher than that of the sea, with salt crusts on the shores during dry periods. Declared a managed nature reserve in 2006, the lagoon hosts every autumn and winter one of the largest concentrations of common cranes in Europe, as well as diving ducks and coots that use it as a wintering, stopover or breeding area.

Photo: Araceli Merino (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in Gallocanta