Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A large brackish lake with marsh vegetation in some places and many islets. The surrounding area is dominated by cereal fields.
The most important passage site for
Grus grus in Europe, it is a major migratory bottleneck, where more than 20,000 cranes regularly pass in spring and autumn. It is also a very important site for wintering wildfowl and for breeding steppic birds.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats are from over-abstraction of water for agriculture and increasing disturbance from visitors, particularly of
Grus grus.
National Partial
International Partial6,720 ha of IBA covered by Wild Fauna Reserve (Laguna de Gallocanta, 6,720 ha). 6,720 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Laguna de Gallocanta, 6,720 ha). 6,720 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Gallocanta, 6,720 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Gallocanta lake (Spain). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/gallocanta-lake-iba-spain on 23/11/2024.
