Spring in Spain

10 – 19 May 2025

Spring in Spain

10 – 19 May 2025

10 – 19 May 2025

Price: 32,355 SEK per person in double room (excluding flights)
Single room supplement: 4,000 SEK

Bustards / Roller / Sandgrouse / Vultures / Imperial Eagle / Great Spotted Cuckoo / Black-winged Kite / Collared Pratincole / Little Owl

Extremadura, Sierra de Gredos, and Andalusia. All of southern Spain’s birds and Iberian lynx

Central and southern Spain offer a diversity of birds and environments, and spring is the prime time for birdwatching. From the steppes of Extremadura with Bustards, Rollers, and Sandgrouse, through the sierras with citril finch, cinereous vulture, and Spanish imperial eagles, down to the wetlands of Doñana and the specialties of southern Andalusia. We aim to see most of them on this ten-day trip starting in Madrid and ending in Malaga.

Have a look at one of our trip reports!

On this trip, there are excellent chances to encounter a wide variety of birds. In Sierra de Gredos, our focus is on species like the citril finch, rock thrush, and raptors such as the Spanish imperial eagle and cinereous vulture. Extremadura highlights include Great Bustards and Sandgrouse, with specialties like the Great Spotted Cuckoo, Stone Curlew, Rollers, and Black-winged Kite. In Monfragüe, we’ll have our first opportunities to spot Black Storks, Egyptian vultures, Spanish Sparrows, Alpine Swifts, Rock Sparrow, and more.

Doñana National Park boasts numerous wetland birds such as the Collared Pratincole, Whiskered Tern, Swamphen, Little Bittern, Purple Heron, and many others. Additionally, the dry habitats offer high-interest birds like the recently split Mediterranean short-toed lark, red-necked nightjar, and azure-winged magpie. Serrania de Ronda is renowned for its beautiful landscapes where we’ll observe Bonelli’s Eagles, Black Wheatears, Iberian grey shrike, several attractive warblers, various wheatears, and more.

Throughout the trip, we’ll also encounter common species like Pallid Swifts, Woodchat Shrike, Cirl Buntings, European Serin, Crested Larks, Little Owls, Common Nightingales, Melodious Warblers, Turtle doves, Crag Martins, Black-winged Stilts, and many others. This journey promises to be incredibly species-rich, offering a comprehensive view of the birdlife of the Western Mediterranean.

This is a comfortable birdwatching trip, albeit at a fairly intense pace. It’s not specifically a photography tour, but it’s worth bringing a camera as there will be plenty of opportunities to capture raptors and other birds, as well as the beautiful landscapes. There’s also a morning session in a hide available for raptor photography. The trip is ideal for beginners and couples. If you’ve never birdwatched in the Mediterranean region before, this trip is perfect for you.

Springtime in May is a dynamic period in Spain as even the longest migrating birds return from the tropics. Breeding season is in full swing, and it’s the time for the Great Bustard and Little Bustard displays. Going earlier means missing out on the late-arriving songbirds and swifts, while going later exposes you to very hot weather and decreased bird activity. Species like Rollers and Bee-eaters typically arrive in May. There’s no other time of the year when you can see as many different bird species along the route as now. Generally, the weather is sunny and warm during this time, but mornings can be chilly in mountainous areas and on the steppes.

On this journey, you’ll encounter a multitude of beautiful and unique natural environments, abundant in quantity. Spain boasts vast expanses of magnificent and unspoiled nature. Additionally, you’ll explore picturesque villages and historic cities like Trujillo and Ronda. Mountains, steppes, and wetlands are well-represented on the trip, along with cork oak-covered hills in Serrania de Ronda and the semi-open Dehesa, characterized by large holm oak trees and free-roaming Iberian pigs, a common sight in Extremadura.

This tour starts in Madrid and ends in Malaga, significantly reducing the amount of driving. We travel together in a 9-seater minibus. The journey begins from Madrid heading west to Sierra de Gredos, then onto the steppes of Extremadura, with a visit to Monfragüe National Park with its majestic cliffs where cinereous vultures soar nearby. Continuing directly south to Seville and Doñana National Park with its wetlands and the chance to spot Iberian Lynx. From there, we venture into central Andalusia and the Ronda Mountains with their scenic and bird-rich surroundings. From there, it’s just a couple of hours’ transfer to Malaga.

We work with a local guide who leads us throughout the journey. While Spain may seem easy to travel in without a guide, local knowledge should not be underestimated when it comes to knowing where some of the rare birds are to be seen each year; the variation is considerable. Through our local guide, we also gain access to places that are not open to the general public.

We will be staying at several really nice hotels during the trip, where we will enjoy the Spanish cuisine and delicious local wines. The food is usually homemade, flavorful, and traditionally Spanish with regional variations. According to some connoisseurs, the coffee in southern Spain is the tastiest in the world, not as strong as Italian espresso but definitely richer than Swedish filter coffee. Here, they brew the coffee cup by cup when you order it at the bar.

When: May 10th – May 19th, 2025

Price: 32,355 SEK per person in double room (excluding flights)
Single room supplement: 4,000 SEK

Optional: Photography hide for raptors: 100 Euros per person

NOTE! We reserve the right to adjust the price if local costs or currency fluctuations justify it. Minor adjustments to the start and end times of the trip may also be necessary at times.

Minimum number of participants: 6
Maximum number of participants: 8

This is a mixed trip where both Swedish and English-speaking participants are welcome.

What’s included:
Full board at three-star hotels in double rooms with private bathroom/toilet, local English-speaking guide throughout. All transportation in Spain. All meals in Spain except on transfer days – lunch or snack or dinner depending on flight times on the first and last days. This is a trip without a Swedish leader. Manuel Morales – English-speaking, Spanish guide with extensive experience with Swedish groups will lead.

Not included:
Flight ticket Sweden-Madrid+Malaga-Sweden (We are happy to book the flight for you), alcohol, souvenirs, and other personal expenses, tips for local guide/driver (we usually collect a hundred SEK per person for each at the end of the trip if we are satisfied). One lunch and one dinner.

Registration fee:
Once you have registered, we will send you an invoice for 5,000 SEK as a registration fee, guaranteeing you a spot on the trip.

Book your wildlife trip here!

Have a look at one of our trip reports!

…It’s indeed a very species-rich journey, offering a glimpse of a significant portion of the Western Mediterranean’s avifauna. Perfect for those who haven’t birdwatched in that part of Europe before.

…It’s indeed a very species-rich journey, offering a glimpse of a significant portion of the Western Mediterranean’s avifauna. Perfect for those who haven’t birdwatched in that part of Europe before.

You’re invited to book a wildlife trip with us!

Whether you choose to travel with us to a distant land or to photograph eagles from a photo hide, you can rest assured that we:

  • We possess local knowledge

  • Sustainable nature tourism is our focus

  • We have many years of experience