The Natural Park Strait

El Estrecho (The Strait) Natural Park is a natural park in Spain, located on the northern side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Comprising 189.1 square kilometres, it was declared a natural park in 2003 and is the southernmost park of Europe. The park is located at the southernmost point of mainland Spain, and of mainland Europe, making it the southernmost park of Europe. The location at the point where the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea meet in the Strait of Gibraltar places it on the migratory route for many birds.

The east coast of the park is on the Mediterranean Sea and west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The Strait of Gibraltar, which links these seas and separates Europe from Africa, is a stopping point for migratory birds and marine mammals. The distance between the two continents is only 14 km and from prehistoric times this step is also a transit path for humans. The union of two oceans makes unique marine environment that houses an exceptional biodiversity of extraordinary interest. The climate of the area is characterized by mild temperatures and a dry season and a total lack of rain.

As for the fauna include birds that make their migration from Africa to Europe in numbers of tens of thousands. There are an abundance of large mammals themselves are in the nearby Parque Natural de los Alcornocales due to rough terrain and predominantly creeping vegetation type, thus it can be found mongoose, genets and other small mammals. Regarding the flora and fauna have been found underwater meadows of angiosperms in several areas of the park but due to the wing of the waves are not high concentrations. The marine fauna is exceptionally narrow, numerous species of cetaceans whales, dolphins, orcas, sperm whales, blue whales, etc.