World’s fastest animal is nesting in Spain’s largest cities
The peregrine falcon is the world’s fastest animal; it can reach incredible speeds when it dives to catch its prey. The Science Digest website explains that researchers have been captivated by the bird, ‘conducting experiments to measure their astonishing...
The importance of the wolf
Following the backdoor manoeuvre by rightwing parties in Parliament last month to allow wolves to be hunted in Spain, environmentalists have published a simple graphic to illustrate the importance of this native animal to the biodiversity of the areas it inhabits....
A ‘formidable hunter’; the Eurasian eagle-owl
“The arrival of a new eagle-owl in the vicinity causes panic amongst other birds of prey and a general re-arrangement of territories usually follows as its new neighbours try to give it a wide berth,” says the Owls Trust. Their size (wingspan of between...
Following in the footsteps of the ice men
This is a route steeped in history, as well as incredible natural beauty. In the spring wildflowers abound, adorning fields around the villages and mountain slopes and ridges. Delicate flowers grow in seemingly impossible places after seasonal rain has worked its...
Following in the footsteps of the ice men – part 2
The Senda dels Nevaters (the ice men route) heads up the lane leading out of Plaza del Font in Famorca. It is 375m in distance up this wide track to reach a signpost, which points the walker off to the right onto a path. This is the start of an ascent that is fairly...
Egyptian vultures with an Iberian home
The Egyptian vulture is the smallest of the four species of these carrion feeders which inhabit Spain, with a wingspan of between 1.5 metres and 1.7m. Most of the Spanish population spends the winter in Africa and returns to Iberia for the nesting season, according to...
Campaign to save critically endangered Iberian orcas
The 2025 #SaveTheIberianOrca campaign has been launched. The associations WeWhale and Sea Shepherd France say ‘the urgency couldn’t be clearer’. They state that only 35 to 40 Iberian orcas remain; while the Iberian Orca Protection and Conservation...
Delving into the blue
The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is classed as being in critical danger of extinction in the Mediterranean, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is a fish which spends most of its life in the open sea at depths of between 60 and...
Facing up to the threat of forest fires
“Seeing our countryside go up in flames has really marked the people of Montanejos.” These were the words of the town mayor Miguel Sandalinas after fire destroyed large swathes of the pine forest in this walkers’ paradise in Castellón province in...
No butts
Hundreds of cigarette butts are dumped each day on almost every busy Mediterranean beach in Spain during the increasingly long tourist season. This equates to hundreds of thousands of polluting remnants discarded by thoughtless smokers. During eight months of the...
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