Marine reserves of Spain, a great option for responsible tourism

Summer is the perfect season to watch the sea and be seduced by all the plans offered by the aquatic environment for the whole family. But what do we do this summerthat we have never done? Although there are always thousands of options: trips to the beach, afternoons on the shore with the surfboard, sand castles, collect shells to paint and decorate them, games with inflatable mattress ... sometimes we want something more. Therefore, today we bring another less known option: a visit to the marine reserves of Spain.

In Spain, there 10 marine reserves. As specified by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, these spaces are protected and in them a sustained exploitation of resources of fishing interest is achieved. These are areas where fishing and dumping actions are prohibited so that aquatic species can recover in both size and reproductive capacity.


A visit to the marine reserves of our country is an ideal option to teach our children the importance of nature, with the world of the sea as the main protagonist. These are places where we can show our children the efforts that are made to protect the environment and in which the whole family can enjoy while learning very interesting data.

The 10 marine reserves of Spain

1.  Cabo de Gata - Níjar (Almería)

It is located in the province of Almería, at the foot of the Sierra de Cabo de Gata and extends in front of a coastal strip of more than 45 kilometers between Carboneras and the tip of Cabo de Gata. The Ministry explains that rocky and sandy surfaces alternate in the bottoms and that this reserve shelters the southernmost meadows of Posidonia oceanica.


2.  Cabo de Palos - Islas Hormigas (Murcia)

It is a rectangular-shaped Mediterranean reserve of 1,931 hectares that extends to Cabo de Palos on the coast of Murcia. The integral reserve is located around the islets of Las Hormigas reaching funds of more than 50 meters. Alternating rocky and sandy bottoms and Posidonia oceanica meadows. It is an area of ​​passage for pelagic species such as the seals that come to the area in the summer months.

3.  Levante de Mallorca - Cala Rajada (Mallorca)

What better excuse to visit this Balearic island? To the north of the Litoral de Levante of the Island of Mallorca and in the outer waters of the area, this marine reserve is subject to special measures of fishing protection. The coast is formed by numerous cliffs of calcareous origin characterized by the formation of underwater caves. The coastline combines rocky areas with fine sand beaches, some of them considered virgin.


4.  Island of Alborán (Almería)

Although it is true that this can not be visited, when we are on the coast of Almeria we can tell our children that, right in front, there is a protected island. The Alborán marine reserve is located in the southern Mediterranean of Almeria and covers an area of ​​1,650 hectares around this island. It protects the area around the outcrops of a ridge that emerges in an area of ​​transition between the Mediterranean and Atlantic waters whose mixture hosts ecosystems of high diversity.

The fishing reserve is a regulated fishing ground for fishing and in particular, trawling directed to the red shrimp.
The funds are varied and abrupt: there are low, canyons and sandy areas. From 60 meters deep there are forests of brown laminaria (Laminaria ochroleuca). The marine reserve has great fishing interest.

5.   Columbretes Islands (Castellón)

The 30 miles that separate the Columbretes Islands from Castellón as well as their characteristics of small volcanic islets, have been a form of protection for the marine environment. The archipelago of the Columbretes Islands, located about 30 nautical miles from the Grao de Castellón, is composed of four groups of islets and some rocks and shoals. The marine reserve has a quadrilateral shape and an area of ​​5,543 hectares in external waters.

6.  Isla Graciosa (Canary Islands)

This marine reserve extends into the Atlantic, encompassing the north of the island of Lanzarote, the Graciosa and the islets of the Chinijo Archipelago (Montaña Clara, Roque Oeste, Roque Este and Alegranza). Its waters are rich in nutrients. The marine environment of Graciosa Island, the easternmost of the archipelago, is influenced by the outcrop of cold and rich waters produced on the nearby African coast and responsible to a large extent for the fishing riches of the area, along with the extensive continental shelf that makes the funds are shallow and therefore quite illuminated.

7.   Island of Tabarca (Alicante)

Located in the Mediterranean, in the province of Alicante, in front of the Port of Santa Pola. The reserve has a rectangular shape and its distance to the coast is about 3 miles. Their bottoms oscillate between the 0 and 40 ms of depth and lodge meadows of Posidonia oceanica in optimum state of conservation what favors the regeneration of the fishing resources of the zone.The integral reserve includes the easternmost and deepest zone.

8.  La Palma (Canary Islands)

This marine reserve reaches a depth of 1000 meters and extends over 3,455 hectares on the south western coast of the island of La Palma, between Caleta de los Pájaros, Punta Coarse and the 1,000-meter isobath as the outer limit. This reserve is located entirely in the exterior waters. This reserve is characterized by a scarce marine platform and abrupt backgrounds of enormous landscape and biological value. Also, you can see numerous cracks, caves and tunnels of great interest.

9.  La Restinga - Mar de las Calmas (Canary Islands)

This marine reserve is located in the Atlantic in the extreme southwest of the island of El Hierro, which is the westernmost of the islands of the Canary archipelago. Its waters are characterized by continued calm, as the area is sheltered from the trade winds and its tropical character sheltering species that are not found in the rest of the archipelago. The fishery resources are the object of an artisanal fishery that has given rise to particular fishing methods in the area. The almost total algal coverage together with the variety of its funds favor a high biodiversity.

10.   Masía Blanca (Tarragona)

It is a small marine reserve of 457 hectares located on the Mediterranean coast about 50 kilometers north of the city of Tarragona, has a circular shape and extends for funds of less than 25 meters, in front of the tourist beach of Coma-ruga. It protects meadows of Posidonia oceanica and funds of "maërl". These funds consist of rocky bars perpendicular to the coast of high biodiversity and interest as a breeding area for species of fishing interest: gilthead bream, red mullet and others.

Damián Montero

Video: International Year 2017 of Sustainable Tourism for Development


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