The Ebro Delta covers 320 square kilometres and is the second largest wetland area in the western Mediterranean, after the French Camargue. It has many natural habitats not common to the rest of Catalonia: large lakes of salt water (such as La Tancada) or fresh water (such as L'Encanyissada), kilometres of beaches with sand dunes (El Fangar) and salt wastelands (Erms de la Tancada, Punta de la Banya), places where underground fresh water comes to the surface (Els Ullals), shallow bays (El Fangar or Els Alfacs), riverbank woods and fluvial islands that, together with the ecosystems created by man - rice fields and salt pans - constitute a unique landscape of great natural wealth.

This diversity of ecosystems and flora and fauna has led to the protection of a large part of the Delta and in 1983 it was declared a "natural park". It is in fact an ornithological paradise where you can see more than 300 species of birds. Some are sedentary and others migratory, spending the summer or winter here or perhaps just passing through. Species not found anywhere else in Catalonia include the white heron, the glossy

ibis, the kingfisher, the squacco heron, and the flamingo, which join tens of thousands of ducks and other limicolous birds. The Delta is also rich in rare plants, amphibians, fish and endemic invertebrates. The Natural Park provides facilities for visitors and scholars, including an ecomuseum with exhibits explaining the natural and agricultural environment of the area, various information centres, and a library. There is a biological station for the use of researchers, which also has a wildlife recuperation centre. In addition to the undeniable ecological value of this area, a paradise for ornithologists and nature-lovers, we cannot forget the beauty of its unspoilt beaches. The Delta is also the story of man's struggle to tame a hard and difficult land through the cultivation of rice. The rice fields change colour with the seasons and they become lost in the infinity among small houses and villages. A boat trip to the river mouth is a must.