Tablas de Daimiel National Park

Tablas de Daimiel National Park protects a wetland on the La Mancha plain in the province of Ciudad Real, across the municipalities of Daimiel and Villarrubia de los Ojos, and was designated in 1973. At about 3,000 hectares it is the smallest of Spain's national parks, and it preserves the last surviving floodplain wetland in the arid center of the Iberian Peninsula, fed historically by the Guadiana River and the brackish waters of its tributary the Giguela. The park is also a Ramsar wetland site, the core of the Mancha Húmeda Biosphere Reserve, and a European Union Special Protection Area for birds. It has faced serious conservation pressure from agricultural overuse of the surrounding aquifer, and restoration efforts are working to expand protection into nearby dryland farming areas.