PueblosBlancosDiscoveryTours: Laguna Fuente de Piedra

The Lagoon of Fuente de Piedra

Prologue:

You find the lake at the village of Fuente de Piedra near Antequera northwest of the Málaga province. This natural lagoon is one of the biggest in Andalucía, measuring 6 km long and nearly 3 km wide.

Every spring thousand of pink flamingos migrate from Africa and nest in the lagoon. The salinity character of the water makes it an ideal location for the breeding flamingos. They feed of the microscopic organisms, such as seaweed and crustacean which is part of their basic diet. Also many migratory birds use Fuente de Piedra as a resting place before flying over to or coming from Africa, or they like to spend the winter month here.

The Romans started to extracted salt here and at one time in history of the lagoon the water was used for medicinal purpose.

But luckily the lake was declared a zone of special ecological interest in 1988 and it became a magnet for birdwatchers and naturalists.

Remark: Don't forget the binoculars.
Guided tours can be arranged in the visitor center.

Directions:

The journey takes about 1 h 30 minutes when coming from Marbella.
Take the A-7 from Marbella towards Malaga.
From Málaga you take the A-45 towards Sevilla on the A-92.
From Antequera you reach the lagoon of Fuente de Piedras in 15 minutes.

When you turn away from the coast the countryside changes dramatically. The Autopista cuts through the Málaga mountains and as you near Antequera you drive through rolling hills until you reach the plains or depression of Hoya de Antequera or Vega de Antequera.

As you near Antequera you will see on the left hand side the limestone rock at the height of 800 meters Peña de los Enamora "The Lovers Rock" and the new Ave rail line connecting Granada with Sevilla.

After about 15 minutes you will come to the turn off to

Laguna de Fuente de Piedra.

You reach the lagoon just after the village and a Visitor center awaits you.

It sits on a hill overlooking the lagoon.

At the center they will supply you with any information that you may need.

From here you will have a good view over the lake.

The Pink Lagoon

From a distance,

the flamingo colony is noticed as a pinkish white shine on the edge of the lake.

Flamingo (Flamenco)

The second largest Flamingo colony in Europe after the Camargue in France can be seen here. From the end of March they start to arrive at the Lagoon and this year over 30 000 Flamingos have been recorded in the Lagoon of Fuente de Piedra and 7 250 breeding couples. The lagoon depends very munch on the years rainfall.