Huelva Property - Zones and Maps - Cota Doñana
Towns and Villages
- Hinojos
- Almonte
- El Rocio
- Matalascanas
Map of Cota Doñana
The eastern corner of the Huelva province is largely uninhabited due to the existence of the marsh and sand dunes of Cota de Doñana Nature Reserve which is home to a myriad of species of wildlife. Along with the pine forested Marismas, this area takes up 40km of unspoilt, undeveloped coastline stretching from the purpose built resort of Matalascañas down to the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. Hugely popular in the summer and virtually deserted in the winter, this area of coastline attracts large numbers of tourists, many of whom come from Seville. Doñana y Entorno also contains the bizarre and unique town of El Rocío with its Wild West atmosphere to which the biggest pilgrimage in Andalucía takes place each May.
Almonte
Almonte is the main town of the area. It is an uninspiring town of 16,000 inhabitants situated amidst flat pine forests, famous for its quality production of leather saddles and for its association with the El Rocío pilgrimage that takes place each May to the nearby hermitage of El Rocío. Almonte is located 10km south of the main dual carriageway that runs between Seville and Huelva. It is 65km from Almonte to the airport outside Seville.
Hinojos
Surrounded by countryside, Hinojos is a village of 3500 that is popular with visitors during the summer due to its rural location. There is a Mudéjar style church in the village that is worthy of note. Hinojos is 12km east of Almonte.
El Rocío
This fascinating place has a history that dates back to the 15th century when a man discovered a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary hidden in a tree whilst he was out hunting. A hermitage was constructed at the site and named Nuestra Señora de las Rocinas. The inhabitants of Almonte claimed the virgin was theirs and changed the name of the hermitage to Virgen del Rocío or the “Virgin of Dew”. At the same time, people began to make pilgrimages to the shrine. There are many pilgrimages that take place in Andalucía, known as Romerías, but most of them only take a day to complete. The sheer isolation of El Rocío, situated as it is in between the uninhabited Coto de Doñana National Park and Las Marismas, meant that it took a day just to get there from the closest village of Villamanrique. From the early 19th century, people had begun to make the pilgrimage to El Rocío from various places in Huelva, Seville and Cádiz, making journeys that lasted up to 4 days. The journey to the hermitage became as important to the celebrations as the hermitage itself and El Rocío’s popularity has only increased in recent years.
Until the 1950’s there were just a few houses near the hermitage, most of the pilgrims camped out in their wagons. Today, it is a large village with a bizarre Wild West Frontier character to it. The buildings are constructed from wood and painted bright colours and the streets look like the ideal setting for a Wild West movie. The pilgrims arrive in El Rocío on the Saturday before Whitsunday. People come from all over Spain to join in the raucous celebrations and the houses there are rented out for huge amounts of money. Over half a million people converge on El Rocío on Whitsunday, some of them making their way there in traditional Wild West style wagons and everyone dressed in traditional garb and in a party mood.
El Rocío’s position in the middle of the virtually uninhabited Marismas with the extensive marshlands of Cota Doñana on one side is seen by some as evidence that the place has spiritual and magical significance. It is likely that there was some kind of maternity and fertility cult at El Rocío before it became dedicated to the Virgin and often Spaniards report that a visit to El Rocío leaves them feeling refreshed.
Outside the festival season, El Rocío is a quiet place with the spooky atmosphere of a ghost town. The large baroque hermitage that houses the virgin can be visited. To the west of El Rocío lie the Marismas. This uninhabited, pine forested area was used by Alfonso X as a hunting ground in the 13th century and makes a wonderful place for walking in the countryside away from civilisation.
El Rocío is located 18km north of the seaside resort of Matalascañas and 16km south of Almonte.
Matalascañas
Located, as it were, on the edge of civilization, Matalascañas comes as a surprise amidst the natural beauty surrounding it. A purpose built tourist resort, Matalascañas is a large and hugely popular in the summer. The town has all the character of a multi-storey car park, different sections of it are labelled by numbers and letters rather than street names and it is easy to get lost in the uniformed streets that all look the same.
Despite its apparent isolation, Matalascañas is the closest beach to Seville, hence its popularity. With access to 40km of sandy, unspoilt beaches on either side, with the expanses of Cota Doñana Natural park to one side and the pine forests of Las Marismas to the other, its easy to see why Matalascañas is so popular. Prices can be high in the summer and amenities here include hotels, restaurants, discotheques, a huge camping site and other tourist requirements. The largest tourist resort in Huelva, the town stretches for over 5km down the coast. There are numerous opportunities to take part in aquatic and other sports. Out of season, of course, Matalascañas is a virtual ghost town. The town is 40km from Huelva and 90km from Seville.
Cota Doñana Natural Park
This huge area of uninhabited marshland and sand dunes is a very important natural area. Millions of migratory birds use the habitat and it is also home to the rapidly disappearing Iberian Lynx. Covering over 260,000 acres, the Doñana is separated from Cádiz by the Guadalquivir River which that flows from Seville to the sea. The area of outstanding natural beauty is appreciated by nature lovers of all kinds, although visiting is restricted to certain areas in order to conserve the delicate habitat.