The Flamingo Lake
Fuente de Piedra
Twenty thousand breeding pairs of pink flamingos on a salt lake, ten minutes from our gate.
Our nearest neighbour
Of everything we send guests out to see, this is the closest. Ten minutes down the country road, and you are standing at a lake of almost 1,400 hectares with pink birds as far as you can see.
Fuente de Piedra is the largest inland lake in Andalusia — six kilometres long, shallow and salt. The salt is precisely why the flamingos come: it supports the tiny crustaceans that turn the birds pink.
The lake holds the most important flamingo breeding colony on the Iberian Peninsula and the second most important in Europe. In good years up to 20,000 breeding pairs have been recorded.
Access is free, parking is free, and there are marked paths and hides to watch from. There is nothing to book and nothing to plan — this is an outing you can take on a whim.
From saltworks to reserve
The lake's salt was worked from Roman times right up to the 1950s. Dykes were built, water was drained off, and the sun did the rest.
The dykes are still there. Today the birds nest on them — raised just above the water, exactly what a flamingo needs. An industrial site has become the thing keeping the colony alive.
Each summer the young birds are ringed, an event volunteers travel a long way to take part in.
When the birds are there
This is the most important page in the whole guide, because it decides whether the trip is a good one.
March to June is the season. Water levels are high, the birds are breeding, and numbers peak — usually in March and April.
Early morning is best. The birds stand closer together, the light is softer, and it is cooler to walk in.
In summer the lake can dry out. When it does, the birds move — or leave entirely. If you come in July or August, be prepared for them to be a long way off.
The rest of the year still holds plenty of birdlife, and the landscape is beautiful year-round. But if you want the sheet of pink, come in spring.
Bring binoculars
The lake is large and the birds often stand far out. With the naked eye you see a pink band on the horizon; with binoculars you see birds.
Everything to know before you go
Access is free and requires no booking. Guided tours, however, must be arranged in advance.
Ten minutes from the estate
Fuente de Piedra is the next village along from Mollina. It is the shortest outing of them all, and it fits in before lunch.
Before you go
Flamingos before breakfast
If you are staying at Castillo del Alma in March or April, this is the easiest morning you can give yourself. Ten minutes in the car, an hour's walk by the water, and home before the day has really started.
See the estate