The Lagunas de Ruidera are a group of small lakes in the Campo de Montiel, Castilla-La Mancha, between

Albacete Province Albacete () is a Provinces of Spain, province of central Spain, in the southern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. As of 2012, Albacete had a population of 402,837 people. Its capital city, a ...

, and

Ciudad Real Province The province of Ciudad Real () is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. It is partly located in ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Most of the lakes are interconnected and their total water amount may reach 23.06 hm³, which is considerable by the standards of other lakes in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. The largest lakes are Laguna Colgada and Laguna del Rey. The area near the lakes is a tourist site, with small hotels, restaurants, camping sites and private villas, located mostly in or around Ruidera town. The area can be reached from

Ossa de Montiel Ossa de Montiel is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 2,209 (2023). The Lagunas de Ruidera are located within this town's municipal term. Notable people * Óscar Sevilla, Spani ...

Villahermosa Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Town") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an important city because of its ...

List of lakes

There are now 15 small lakes in the group:

Albacete Province

* Laguna Colgada * Laguna Batana * Laguna Santos Morcillo * Laguna Salvadora * Laguna Lengua * Laguna Redondilla * Laguna de San Pedro * Laguna Tinaja * Laguna Tomilla * Laguna Conceja * Laguna Taza. This lake was drained in order to build a

camping site Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

Ciudad Real Province

*Laguna Cenagosa *Laguna Coladilla *Laguna Cueva Morenilla *Laguna del Rey *Laguna Blanca

Ecology

There are a variety of birds in the lake shores:

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s, like the

red-crested pochard The red-crested pochard (''Netta rufina'') is a large diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck", and Latin ''rufina'', "golden-red" (from ''rufus'', "ruddy"). Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes in so ...

common pochard The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina''), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in the steppe regions of Scandinavia and Si ...

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

and

tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

, as well as the

Eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

common moorhen The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the Rail (bird), rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-ve ...

great reed warbler The great reed warbler (''Acrocephalus arundinaceus'') is an insectivorous bird in the family Acrocephalidae. It is a medium-sized passerine bird and the largest of the European warblers. It breeds throughout mainland Europe and the Western Pa ...

bearded reedling The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, long-tailed passerine bird found in reed beds near water in the temperate zone of Eurasia. It is frequently known as the bearded tit or the bearded parrotbill, as it historically was beli ...

purple heron The purple heron (''Ardea purpurea'') is a wide-ranging heron species. It breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Palearctic. The Western Palearctic populations migrate between breeding and wintering habitats whe ...

, little bittern and

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s. In the waters of the lakes there are also endemic Iberian fishes like the ''

Rutilus lemmingii ''Iberochondrostoma lemmingii'', the Iberian arch-mouthed nase (; ), is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Leuciscidae. It is found in Portugal and Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern an ...

'', ''

Luciobarbus guiraonis ''Luciobarbus guiraonis'' is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is here placed in '' Luciobarbus'' following the IUCN, but that genus is very closely related to the other typical barbels and perhaps better considered a mere su ...

'',

Iberian barbel The Iberian barbel (''Luciobarbus comizo'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is here placed in '' Luciobarbus'' following the IUCN, but that genus is very closely related to the other typical barbels and perhaps better co ...

, ''

Luciobarbus microcephalus ''Luciobarbus microcephalus'' is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is here placed in '' Luciobarbus'' following the IUCN, but that genus is very closely related to the other typical barbels and perhaps better considered a mer ...

'', ''

Squalius pyrenaicus ''Squalius pyrenaicus'' , the Southern Iberian chub or Tagus chub, is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the family (biology), family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related fishes. Th ...

'', as well as introduced species, like the

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

and ''

Gambusia holbrooki The eastern mosquitofish (''Gambusia holbrooki'') is a species of freshwater fish, closely related to the western mosquitofish, ''Gambusia affinis''. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The eastern mosquitofish i ...

''. The ''

Procambarus clarkii ''Procambarus clarkii'', known variously as the red swamp crayfish, Louisiana crawfish or mudbug, is a species of cambarid crayfish native to freshwater bodies of northern Mexico, and southern and southeastern United States, but also introduc ...

'' is an introduced species of

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

that has caused great damage to the local aquatic fauna. Among the amphibians, the

European tree frog The European tree frog (''Hyla arborea'') is a small tree frog. As traditionally defined, it was found throughout much of Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but based on molecular genetic and other data several populations formerly included in it ...

Mediterranean tree frog The Mediterranean tree frog (''Hyla meridionalis''), or stripeless tree frog, is a species of frog found in south-west Europe and north-west Africa. It resembles the European tree frog, but is larger (some females are up to long), has longer hi ...

and the southern marbled newt are present along the shores of the lakes.Atlas provisional de distribución de los anfibios y reptiles de la provincia de Ciudad Real
/ref> The protected area of the Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park includes not only the lakes but also the tributary valley of San Pedro.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

has included the natural park within the

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Mancha Húmeda Mancha Húmeda is a Spanish wetland area which was designated a Biosphere reserve in 1980. "Húmeda" means damp in Spanish and "Mancha Húmeda" refers to wetlands situated in La Mancha, a predominantly arid region of central Spain. The core are ...

. The natural park acts as a

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

to the core area of the biosphere reserve, the

Tablas de Daimiel Tablas de Daimiel National Park (''Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel'') is a wetland on the La Mancha plain, a mainly arid area in the province of Ciudad Real (province), Ciudad Real. With an area of about 3,000 hectares, the park is the s ...

wetlands.

References

External links

Lagunas de Ruidera - Tourism

Lagunas de Ruidera :: Blog

Lagunas de Ruidera :: Rural houses to rest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagunas De Ruidera Ruidera Ramsar sites in Spain Biosphere reserves of Spain es:Parque natural de las Lagunas de Ruidera fr:Parc naturel des lacs de Ruidera