Birding In Spain, Europe?
Absolutely! Now, you’re not going to compete with the tropics for the number of bird species – European wildlife was the first to bear the brunt of industrialization after all, and the temperate climate zone can never be so productive in terms of bird species and variety.
So what’s special about Spain for a birding tour?
Well, Spain is well-known as a holiday destination – mostly due to its warm, sunny climate with little rain, reasonable prices, beaches …
However, as travelling birders we scratch well below the surface, don’t we? However, before we talk about the birds themselves…
Spain is the second most mountainous country in Europe – I bet many of you didn’t know that. There are mountain ranges all over the place, with peaks in the Pyrenees of over 3,000m, and the Sierra Nevada in the south at almost 3,500m.
Castles in Spain, are not just castles. There are Roman remains, medaieval walled cities, monuments such as the Alhambra in Granada, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, cathedrals, romanic churches, and soooo much more.
Castles in Spain: Loarre castle
It’s easy to get to Spain, with international connections at major airports Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Málaga. Then getting around Spain is easy and fast, with excellent road and rail links connecting cities and different regions.
Map of Barcelona city, Catalonia, Spain
Spain is a safe place to travel in, especially if you take commonsense precautions. Normal people don’t have guns, they drive more or less sensibly, they respect other people and their belongings.
Spain is well known for its good red wines – not enough so in our opinion – and almost every valley has its own cheeses, olive oil, wine, bread, regional dish, etc.
There are so many hotels and other accommodation types to choose from that you cannot possibly compare Spain disfavourably to any other European country.
Landscapes – mountains, valleys, plains, olive groves, wetlands, coastal headlands – landscapes and more landscapes.
The professional services of people engaged in making your stay as enjoyable as possible – hotel staff, transport workers, caterers, and of course professional birding guides. We at Birding In Spain have been leading, designing, and operating bird tours around all parts of Spain since 1996. That’s a long time to learn how best to deliver what the visiting birder needs to make his or her visit a successful one.
The Birding In Spain team – Florinda and Steve
Oh! We forgot to mention the birds! That’ll have to be in another blog entry. See you there!
Images: red wine, olive oil, cheese, barcelona, us
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