Guadalhorce Valley

Passing concrete, roads, and industrial buildings we reach the near but still unknown and untouched area of Guadalhorce’s mouth. The access is over a breakwater near the housing estate Guadalmar. The best time to visit this place is at the early hours in the morning, when the birds wake up at dawn with the first sun rays.

Redbreasts, nightingales and blackbirds fly gracefully over this swampy ground, where the water birds are the main protagonists. The porron and focha comun, different duck, proudly show off their movements in front of the elegant and coquettish grey heron that competes with the eagle pretending to be the most splendid. The majestic silhouette of the eagle is recognisable from the car when driving in the near highway.

From time to time the bird of prey, which has made out of the swamp its home, has to dodge the gliding flight of what seems to be a big black duck: a cormorant. An important colony of 400 species has settled down in the pond of the river’s mouth. This natural area is a key place for birds of passage that cross the Straits of Gibraltar and fly towards North Africa or Europe. The swamp of the Guadalhorce reaches its height in spring during the breeding seasons, when the birds begin to court and show their best side to order to continue with the species and with Malaga’s important ornithological heritage. And only at ten minutes from the city centre.