Towards the end of this month, Torrevieja will be a haven for bird spotters, as the Birding Festival Humedales del Sur de Alicante returns to the Parque Natural de la Mata.
The dates for your diary are the 26, 27 and 28 October, for an event dedicated to the world of birds and ornithological tourism organised by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, Parcs Naturals of the Valencian Community and the town Council of Torrevieja, with the ornithological and the conservationist tourism sector and in which guided routes, children’s workshops and specific talks will be offered.
The councillor for tourism, Fanny Serrano, presented the event this week, accompanied by the Mayor of neighbouring Los Montesinos, José Manuel Butrón, the Mayor of Guardamar del Segura, José Luis Sáez, the councillor for Tourism in Rojales, Edelmira Andréu, from Pilar de la Horadada, Pilar María Samper, and Javier Blasco on behalf of the company awarded the contract for the organisation of the event.
The festival will begin the afternoon of the 26th at the Torrevieja Casino with a lecture by Odile Rodríguez de la Fuente, Carlos de Hita and Beltrán Ceballos, people of recognised prestige in their respective fields.
On Saturday October 27, the esplanade of the Interpretation Centre of the Natural Park of the Mata will be the place to go as a variety of tents and stands will be set up, offering all kinds of activities, workshops and information about the world of birds and the natural parks of the south of the Comunitat Valenciana.
On Sunday 28, guided tours of the three wetlands will be offered: La Mata, El Hondo and Salinas de Santa Pola, all arranged by the respective experts from the Parcs Naturals and the ornithological tourism guide companies.
At the presentation ceremony, Fanny Serrano said that this type of tourism has enormous potential with some 10 million ornithological tourists in Europe, “a very specialized tourism, concerned about environmental and quality values”, seemingly despite travelling across the continent and adding to the environmental burden by doing so, but continuing to point out the importance of the “seasonality” offered by this type of tourism because you can see birds all year round.
Alicia Arenas, on behalf of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, was in charge of presenting the II Ornithological Tourism Conference of the Valencian Community that will take place on October 26th at the CdT. Arenas pointed out that the objectives of this day are to debate and value the development of ornithological tourism in the Region, by sharing experiences of ornithological tourism promotion from the point of view of administrations and private companies in national, autonomic, provincial and local levels; as well as for contributing the vision from the tourist and environmental scopes of the administration of the tourist sector and of the conservationist organizations. These days are aimed at professionals and prior registration is necessary. (alicantebirdingfestival@espaisimbiosi.com).
For his part, the mayor of Los Montesinos, José Manuel Butrón, has shown his satisfaction at the fact that an initiative of this type is developed with the boost of Turisme Comunitat Valenciana. The Mayor explained that his municipality is working on the creation of hiking trails in collaboration with Torrevieja and has also advocated value actions related to the flora of the Park.
In his speech, José Luis Sáez, said in relation to bird watching tourism that it is “doing a good job in Torrevieja and the region,” with municipalities that have already been at important fairs and is already beginning to see the fruits. For Sáez this event will also serve to “put in the showcase the ornithological potential of the region”.
Javier Blasco indicated that the Natural Park of Torrevieja and La Mata is “a privileged place for bird watching for international tourism, but we must add a value. You have the resource, and that tourism must be a conservation tool. ”
The full schedule, in Spanish, is available here:
https://birding.comunitatvalenciana.com/birding-festival-comunitat-valenciana
