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The most scenic and least known trail of the three that go around S’Albufera des Grau, this route runs through the southeastern area of the lagoon. We recommend taking it easy as you go along, making stops at the different points of interest.

Difficulty: EasyDistance: 1.7 kilometresDuration: 40 minutes round trip, not including stops This trail is practically flat and may be followed on foot or by bicycle.

Mirador de Cala LlimpaS’Albufera des Grau Natural Park

Bird watching in the lagoon (Photo: Jordi Escandell)

Audouin’s gull(Drawing: Vicenç Sastre)

1. Rodríguez i Femenias Reception and Interpretation Centre

The itinerary begins in front of the S’Albufera des Grau Natural Park Reception and Interpretation Centre. The centre was named after the renowned Menorcan botanist Joan Joaquim Rodríguez i Femenias, an early 20th-century scholar who compiled the first comprehensive catalogue of Menorca’s flora, as well as making countless other contributions to the study of algae and plant life in general.

The centre opened its doors in January 2004 and offers visitors the opportunity to view a permanent exhibition on the ecosystems of S’Albufera des Grau and to enjoy a film projection on this protected area. This is also the starting point for the guided tours and other activities offered in the Park. You may leave your car in the reception centre car park, and then follow the road towards the lagoon, some 200 metres away, where you will see a roundabout with a large olive tree in the middle. Your outing begins just past the wild olivewood gate on the right-hand side of the roundabout.

View of the lagoon from the Llimpa trail (Photo: Fernando Mozos)

2. Diverse plant life

Just a few metres past the gate, you will come to a path to the left that leads to the hide known as the Aguait d’en Biel, a small wooden hut where you may watch the birds at Cala de sa Font. Afterwards, return to the main trail and continue along, on a slight uphill climb that will take you about 20 metres above sea level, just above the highest cliffs of S’Albufera des Grau (atop Es Tamarells). The road will soon fork, at which point you will take the path on the left. You will immediately come to a wild olivewood gate, where you will pass through on the side. This area accommodates the wild olive (Olea europaea var. sylvestris) and hedge nettle (Prasium majus) community, which is known as the Prasio-Oleetum or Menorcan wild olive grove. The wild olive tree is most typically accompanied by the mastic (Pistacia

lentiscus), the Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus) and the phillyreas (Phillyrea media and P. latifolia). Among other thermophilic plants (those that have adapted to living in high temperatures) found here, mention must be made of the tree spurge (Euphorbia dendroides), which loses its leaves in the summer; the joint pine (Ephedra fragilis), which the wind whimsically bends

Details of a wild olive tree (Drawing: V. Sastre)

into odd shapes, and the Calicotome infesta, which fills the path with yellow flowers in the springtime. Moreover, these north-facing crags display interesting winter-budding species, such as the daffodil (Narcissus tazetta) and the three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum).

3. The orchids

In the early springtime, where the trail crosses open expanses of land, you are sure to see large numbers of orchids, including yellow bee orchids (Ophrys lutea), bumble bee orchids (O. bombyliflora) and tongue orchids (Serapias lingua). The orchids found in Menorca are small in size, though very diverse, representing the most modern rungs of floral evolution. In fact, the shapes of these flowers are highly efficient mechanisms designed to attract insects for their pollination.

Daffodils (Photo: Òscar García)

4. The Lilford’s wall lizard on the islet, Illot d’en Mel

Lilford’s wall lizard (Drawing: Vicenç Sastre)

In this first section of the trail, you will see the islets as you look over towards the western area of S’Albufera.

The Illot d’en Mel, the largest of S’Albufera’s islets, is the only inland islet in the Balearics that has a Lilford’s wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordii) population. Endemic to Mallorca and Menorca, this species has evolved differently due to its geographic isolation, giving rise to different subspecies on each of the islets that it inhabits.

The discovery of the specific Lilford’s wall lizard of the Illot d’en Mel in 1999 represented a major contribution to our knowledge of the ancient ecological history of S’Albufera.

The Lilford’s wall lizard disappeared from Menorca with the arrival of the human being and human-introduced predators. The existence of this species suggests that the lagoon around the Illot d’en Mel has not dried up in the last few thousand years at least, as it would otherwise have been wiped out by predators.

5. Shangril·la housing development

You will continue along the trail, going through further wild olivewood gates, until you come to an occupied house. This is a remnant of the Shangril·la housing development, a project that was designed in the 1970s to take up the entire southern area of S’Albufera. The project envisaged the construction of a golf course and the transformation of the lagoon into a marina. Without a doubt, this would have severely altered the land and landscape of this area.

Yet local resident movements alerted the public to the potential environmental impact of the project. Their voice was heard by the public administrations, which began a planning and clearing process for an area that was already built. In part, the process culminated with the 1995 listing of S’Albufera des Grau as a Natural Park.

Sardinian warbler (Photo: Jordi Escandell)

6. Ses Puntes lookout

Follow the trail until you finally reach Ses Puntes. Here you will find some stone benches to relax and enjoy the countryside. This lookout offers a privileged view of the point, Punta de na Verda on the left, Cala de Llimpa (cove) on the right and the Sa Gola area straight ahead. Punta de na Verda is covered with typical forest plants and shrubs. If you look out towards Cala de Llimpa, you will see the vegetation covering the edges of S’Albufera, which includes the alkali bulrush (Scirpus maritimus), the Halimione portulacoides and an occasional tamarisk (Tamarix africana). These plants provide refuge for countless bird species during their mating seasons, such as the coot (Fulica atra) and the Little Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis). Over towards Sa Gola, you will see a mass of pines and beyond it the sea.

Close-up of an alkali bulrush (Photo: Òscar García)

Coot (Drawing: Vicenç Sastre)

The Ses Puntes lookout is a good place to contemplate and understand the formation of S’Albufera des Grau.

S’Albufera has an open-water surface area of 70 hectares and a highly variable depth, with a maximum of 3 meters and an average of 1.37 meters. The lagoon reaches its maximum depth when there are heavy rains and its minimum depths during the summer, when the rains have stopped and evaporation is more intense.

Narrow and long, with an irregular perimeter, S’Albufera sits over land dating from the Carboniferous period that emerged from the sea some 200 million years ago, along with the formation of the Hercynian mountain range.

The origin of the lagoon owes itself to the presence of a fault that was over-excavated by a river during geological periods that were characterised by far lower sea levels and greater rainfalls than those of today. During the Quaternary period, the sea level came up and a dune bank formed, leading to the formation of S’Albufera and the accumulation of a large amount of sediments. The result was the emergence of the plain of Favàritx and the meadow of S’Albufera as we know them today.

It is here where the trail ends. At this point, you may take the same road back to the reception and interpretation centre.

7. Formation of S’Albufera des Grau

View of Punta de ses Ànedes (Photo: Andrea Guilera)

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