Ebro Delta
The Ebro Delta is the Schwemmlandgebiet in the mouth of the river Ebro to the Mediterranean . It is located in the south of the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain .
location
The river delta of the Ebro, which tapers unusually towards the sea, protrudes approx. 20 km into the sea off the Costa Daurada . Divided by the river, the northern part is in the Comarca Baix Ebre , the southern part in the Comarca Montsià . In the extreme east, near the actual mouth of the river in the Mediterranean, the Ebro and its estuary, Lo Migjorn , enclose the island of Illa de Buda . With an area of 12.3 km², it is the largest island on the Catalan mainland. In the south, the island of la Banya is connected to the delta by a sandbank . In the north, the Punta del Fangar peninsula juts out like a wing with its shifting dunes into the Gulf of Sant Jordi . The city of Amposta forms the entrance to the delta, in the center of which is the municipality of Deltebre .
Wetland
With an area of around 320 km², the Ebro Delta is the second largest wetland in Spain after the Coto de Doñana National Park and the second largest delta in the Mediterranean after the Nile Delta. The history of the Ebro Delta began 4,000 years ago and owes its current shape to agriculture ( rice cultivation ). Through the creation of small irrigation canals with a total length of 450 km, sediments could be deposited over the centuries , which the Ebro carries with it from the Pyrenees , the Cantabrian Coast Mountains and the mountains in the center of Spain. This created a flat swamp and marshland with sand dunes and lagoons with fresh water , overgrown with reed beds, only slightly above sea level .
economy
The Ebro Delta is the largest rice-growing area in Spain. Rice is grown and irrigated on approx. 75% of the area (20,000 hectares) . The first cultivation of the grain goes back to the year 1609. Today around 90,000 tons of rice are produced annually. In summer , before the rice harvest, the stems of the rice plants spread out over the delta like a green lawn .
On the island of la Banya is in salt pans of seawater salt obtained. The yacht and fishing port of Port de Sant Carles de la Ràpita is protected by this island . The abundance of pikeperch , perch , eel and catfish provides a livelihood for many fishermen . Another important industry is the cultivation of mussels in the bay of Port del Fangar . The shellfish are bred and harvested on the 70 artificially created mussel banks .
Natural park
About a third of the Ebro Delta was designated as a nature park ( Parc Natural del Delta de l'Ebre ) in 1983 with a total area of 80 km². The entire river delta is a species-rich breeding and resting area for many bird species, but it also serves as a wintering area for migratory birds from Northern Europe . In one count , around 300 different native bird species, migratory birds, ducks , herons , waders , gulls , coots and flamingos were counted. In the months of September and October, after the rice harvest, the uncovered marshland provides food for thousands of birds. Today, the delta's ecosystem is threatened by two recently introduced species, the blue crab and the Louisian crab .
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 42 ′ 9 " N , 0 ° 48 ′ 32" E