The largest and most important Spanish National Park is located in Andalusia - south Spain.
Doñana occupies the right bank of the Guadalquivir river at its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean, in the Province of Huelva. It is notable for the great diversity of its biotopes, especially lagoons, marshlands, fixed and mobile dunes, scrub woodland and "maquis". It is home to five threatened bird species. It is one of the biggest heronries in the Mediterranean region and is the wintering site for more than 500,000 water fowls each year.

The most eye-catching feature of the Doñana surface area of 50,720 ha is the variety of its scenery which is full of contrasts. We can distinguish a humid Doñana which consists of the salt marshes and lagoons, and a dry Doñana with a series of environments, the last of which are the dunes bordering on the Atlantic.
The most outstanding feature of the salt marshes is their incredible flatness. They are dry in the summer and full of water the rest of the year, but the scenery there is constantly changing. The depressions flooded with water are called caños, the salt marsh lagoons are known as lucios, while the low elevations of the land are "paciles" and "vetas". Thousands of birds come to winter there, especially huge flocks of geese from northern Europe and groups of flamingoes. Come springtime, dozens of species nest in the marshes and turn the swamps into a real beehive buzzing with life.
A complementary part of humid Doñana are the lagoons found all over the Park, some along the coast and others further inland. They are regularly visited by fallow and red deer as well as wild boar apart from countless birds.
In the dry area of Doñana, especially noteworthy are a series of cork oaks which divide the marshes from the brushland of Doñana.They are the famous "Doñana aviaries" which give shelter and nesting space to many bird colonies. Grey herons, egrets, squacco herons, spoonbills and storks participate in a colourful concert.
The Doñana brush country is of the Mediterranean type and consists mainly of halimium atriplicifolium of the rockrose family. But there are other plants, too, among them narrow-leaved phillyrea, heath, rosemary, french lavender and thyme, with a scattering of cork oak everywhere. This is the only place in Europe where the iberian lynx and egyptian mongoose are found, species which constitute the greatest wildlife treasure of the area. The skies are the realm of the imperial eagle, which is not found anywhere else in Europe and which is gravely at risk. In the brushland of Doñana, rabbit is very common and pursued by lynx, mongoose and imperial eagle. It is also the shelter and feeding ground of red and fallow deer, wild boar, western polecat, badger and weasel.
Scattered around the brush country of Doñana, a number of stone pine stands can be observed. The pine forests grow the further south one travels and the brushwood grows taller. In these trees, we find wood pigeon, turtle dove, the eyecatching azure-winged magpie, blackbirds and thrushes. Year after year in the spring hobby and short-toed eagle return to nest. And under the trees, red deer and wild boar are regular visitors.
Finally, one of the most spectacular features of the Doñana scenery are the dunes, which consist of extremely fine, white silica. The winds blowing from the sea cause them to move inland and constantly change their profile. When they reach a stand of pine trees, they surround it and form the so-called corrales, ie, pine trees encircled by dunes. Little by little, they strangle the trees and finally bury them.