The ringing of the flamingos who flock at
the Laguna every year involves numerous participants who
collaborate in this scientific activity. For the annual
ringing exercise, the Council of the Environment organizes
a group of 20 young Andalucían volunteers to give
them the opportunity to understand in depth the values
and functions of the surrounding wetlands.
Landscape
The Laguna de Fuente de Piedra constitutes at base level
a shallow water surface with a natural drain system via
an enclosed water basin, and a water area of some 15,350
hectares.
It can be defined as a wetland both endorreicoáá, with
a closed water system, and estepáricoáá, in a hot
steppe-like landscape, whose waters present a markedly
saline character
as a consequence of the evaporation of salt waters in the
substrata. The level of the sheet of water in the lake
can vary greatly by season and year due to fluctuations
in rainfall. The waters of the lake collect by three methods:
direct rainfall on the lake itself, run-off waters from
nearby terrain, and infiltration into local aquifers being
its unique means of discharging the evaporation.
The dynamic system of the lake is strongly linked to the
hydrological cycle, which does not depend solely on its
geography, except when considering water events of any
particular year. In this way, the hydrological chacteristics
of the lake determine the landscape across the year as
much as the biology of the distinct vegetable and animal
communities in the area. This natural temporality is a
fundamental aspect of the dynamic of this wetland.
The exploitation of salt deposits in the lake began in
the Roman epoch and continued until the 1950s. This industry
is responsible for the presence of water management dikes
here, vestiges of the conduits that would have drained
off the water to aid sedimentation in the salt, dikes nowadays
essential for the nesting habits of numerous aquatic birds.
The Laguna de Fuente de Piedra features certain characteristics
that make it ideal for the installation of a breeding colony
for the common flamingo, unique in the Iberian Peninsula.
When conditions are favourable, the most important flamenco
colony in the western Mediterranean quite literally flocks
here.
Gastronomy
Just as in the other towns of the Málaga region,
the meat products derived from the annual ‘matanza’,
the traditional butchering of a pig or pigs, and cooked,
homemade or by small food concerns, are the basics of the
local gastronomy here, equal to other local staples such
as migas, dishes with breadcrumbs as a base, and porra,
a thick vegetable soup or stew, similar to gazpacho. In
spring many of the beans such as asparagus are the base
for various dishes.
Artisan culture
The production of artisan foodstuffs is the option for
home-made baking, the most outstanding examples being mantecada,
a bread or sweet roll made with lard, and olive oil, of
deserved fame and quality, which is made in olive oil presses.
Situation
North-east of the province of Málaga. Area: 1,364
hectares. Average monthly temperatures: 16º-17ºC.
Average annual rainfall: between 440 and 511 mm. Municipality:
Fuente de Piedra.
Activites
- Ornithology (birdwatching and hiking): Special routes
have been laid out to enable flamingo watching from distances
of approximately one kilometre.
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