Tablas de Daimiel National Park

Tablas de Daimiel National Park is a wetland on the La Mancha plain, a mainly arid area in the province of Ciudad Real. With an area of about 3,000 ha, the park is the smallest of Spain's fifteen national parks. The protected area is in the process of being expanded outside the original nature reserve to include neighbouring dryland farming areas. The expansion is part of efforts to improve the condition of the wetland, which has been damaged by over-exploitation of water resources.As well as having national park status, the site enjoys international recognition, being: a wetland on the list of the Ramsar Convention the core of the Biosphere reserve Mancha Húmeda a Special Protection Area for birdsHistoryLike other Spanish wetlands, the Tablas de Daimiel had a long tradition of waterfowl hunting. As early as 1325 the infante Don Juan Manuel, in his hunting book (Libro de la caza), publicised the attributes of the banks of the river Gigüela for falconry. The water resources of the area also provided fishing and power for mills. In 1575, Philip II ordered the compilation of the Topographic Relations which commanded that the Tablas be well looked after. The value of the ecosystem for hunting continued to give the Tablas a certain amount of protection into the 20th century. Although in the 1950s the government promoted land reclamation projects in La Mancha with the aim of reducing the amount of wetland, Franco shot duck in the area and in 1966 the Tablas became a National Hunting Reserve.