Natural Site “Marismas del Río Piedras y Flecha de Nueva Umbría“

It is a site where nature becomes art, where the ocean blends with the river Piedras and gives life to the age-old harbour of El Terrón. It was declared a natural site in 1989. It is the third largest in the province of Huelva (6,250 acres). Its altitude above sea level ranges between 0 and 33 feet.
It is an important enclave of ornithology, aquaculture and ecology. Its main uses are fishing, cultural tourism and leisure. Since ancient times man has applied the varied resources this enclave has to offer in the development of such diverse and traditional activities as shellfish gathering, fishing or marine cultures. Nowadays, this natural site hosts other activities such as hiking, environmental education or bird spotting.
This site stands out because of its uniqueness, the Flecha de Nueva Umbría, a spit of sandy land that started forming over 200 years ago, advancing parallel to the coast and stretching over almost 10 miles. It grows about 40 yards each year and is between 300 and 700 yards wide. It is located at the mouth of the river Piedras and has been formed by of the strong coastal dynamics of the zone, in other words, by the supply of material by the river, the tidal cycle, the longshore drift and the dominating south-eastern winds. This formation, unique in the whole of the national territory, is considered a geomorphological jewel.
When we near this land spit we discover 10 miles of white sand and the deep blue of the sea, virgin beaches (one of the best preserved in the whole of Europe), marshy scenery, estuaries, dune ranges... A whole array of natural abundance that transforms this environment in an ideal place for lovers of nature, because of what it was, and is, an object of study and investigation.
This environment not only characterizes itself by its extraordinary wealth in number and diversity of species, both animal life and vegetation, some of which are in danger of extinction and find a natural shelter here. It also enjoys a mild climate and its humid areas are well preserved. This excellent preservation transforms it into the most valuable ecological area of the municipality and is the reason why it has been incorporated in the network of protected sites of Andalusia. Visitors can enjoy a large nudist area, where sea and nature blend in a paradisical environment.
The beaches and dunes serve as a nesting zone for many species of birds that have adapted themselves to the extraordinary salinity, humidity or drought, such as the Kentish plover, as well as some colonies of little terns and collared pratincoles.
The richness of the marshes serves as a habitat for an abundant marine animal life (eels, sea breams, sea basses, red mullets, fine clams, fiddler crabs, seahorses...) and also attracts birds like sandpipers, redshanks, ospreys, mergansers, common scoters, sandwich terns, lesser black-backed gulls, or godwits. On the beaches however, the true protagonists are the seagulls, the terns and the plovers, along with the different species of wavers like the turnstones, the dunlins or the curlews.
Among the reptiles, the chameleon is the most emblematic species, as its habitat in Europe is limited to the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva and the Portuguese Algarve.
As to the vegetation, which is halophyte in the marsh areas, we find it has adapted very well to the salinity. The most common plants are Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, cordgrass, sea purslane, Mediterranean saltwort, limonium and sea heath. In the sandy zone which suffers from drought and extreme exposure to the sun plants as beach grass, sea holly, sea daffodil, silver lotus, European sea-rocket, sedge, retama and corn-cockle grow abundantly. The most representative plant is a species of thyme, Tymus Carnosus, which has one of its few areas of distribution in this zone.
Within this same site we find the fishing port and leisure marina of El Terrón.
We can sight this entire site from the viewpoint of El Catalán or from the rail trail that unites the beaches of La Antilla and Nueva Umbría.