Nature areas Return

Complejo Intermareal Umia-O Grove

Category: Nature areas | Zone: Val do Salnés

Campos (Matama)
36989 O Grove

GPS:
north: 42° 28' 30.5868"
west: 8° 53' 9.2724"

On the old maps, O Grove was an island. It was joined up to the peninsula of O Salnés not by man-built bridges such as the A Toxa and Arousa Islands (this is a different story), but by sea-engineering works and the southwestern winds. Little by little, the isthmus of the A Lanzada beach has been created, which reaches up to two kilometres in width and four kilometres in length.

Beyond the sand expanse and the rich dune system, there is a large extension of mud, sandy beds and meadows of marine vegetation, such as a salad which is the best fertilizer for vineyards. This is the salt marsh of O Vao, submitted to the tidal rhythm, where half a dozen islands emerge, the largest one being A Toxa (1.5 km 2 ).

Besides the intertidal system diversity, we must mention the outlet of the Umia and the southernmost end of the Illa de Arousa with all its islets and reefs. This variety of habitats attracts many hibernating water birds, which turn this natural space into one of the best places in Spain to watch them. There are several beaches, about one hundred if you use the popular enumeration to count them. From the old times, the Galician toponymy has given a name to every single thing, as witnessed by the archeological remains (Adro Vello necropolis, San Vicente do Grove) or the pagan tradition when women took nine-wave baths at night to fight sterility and the evil eye, near the Christian hermitage of A Lanzada. The best panoramical view of this natural site, among the most diverse and complex in Galicia, can be enjoyed from A Siradella (159 m), one of the highest spots in O Grove.

FLORA: Intertidal submerged and floating species. Zostera marina and Z. Noltii abound. Endemic flowers.

FAUNA: Water birds, such as the Eurasian White Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), the Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), the Plover (Calidris alpina) and the Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola).

M.A.N.: Interpretation Centre of A Siradella (O Grove). Phone number: 986 680 284 Information Board in Punta Carreirón. Six bird-watching observatories and five routes.