JBCLM | 2010-2025

The hamlet of Cordovilla (Tobarra), in the southeast of Albacete province and at the transition between La Mancha and the semi-arid Murcia–Almería region, is located on one of Spain’s most botanically and ecologically important continental salt flats. It hosts an immense diversity of halophytes (plants adapted to saline environments), whose spatial distribution is organized along a gradient of soil salinity, influenced by the local water movement in the upper soil layers.

Elevated areas host Lygeum spartum grasslands, mid-slopes with animal activity feature halonitrophilous shrublands, and low-lying depressions with high salt accumulation support crassicaul formations (shrubs with succulent stems). All these habitats are Special Protection Areas under Castilla-La Mancha’s Nature Conservation Law and host numerous endemic species protected under the Regional Catalogue of Threatened Species.

Examples from the Lygeum grasslands include Senecio auricula subsp. auricula, Limonium caesium, and the threatened rockrose Helianthemum polygonoides, locally called “estrellicas de Cordovilla,” which exists nowhere else but on the 16 hectares of this salt flat.

In the crassicaul shrublands dominated by succulent Amaranthaceae, species include Arthrocnemum macrostachyum (sosa jabonera) and Sarcocornia fruticosa (sosa alacranera). In halonitrophilous communities, Atriplex glauca and other threatened plants are found. Given its botanical uniqueness and ecological fragility, the Cordovilla salt flat is protected under multiple schemes: Natura 2000, Natural Reserve, Micro-reserve (Alboraj Lagoon), and the Critical Area of the H. polygonoides Recovery Plan.

At the upper part of the recreation, part of a traditional esparto grassland is included. Esparto (Stipa tenacissima) is a perennial herbaceous grass, up to 1 m tall, growing in semi-arid or dry western Mediterranean steppes on calcareous and gypsum soils, with an Iberian–North African distribution. It forms dense tufts called atochas or esparteras. The tubular, pointed leaves emerge concentrically, and in spring, the plant produces tall and showy flower spikes called atochines.

This modest-looking but hardy plant plays a key role in soil protection against erosion across vast Mediterranean areas, where trees and other shrubs are limited by low rainfall. Traditionally, from the time of the Iberians, Romans, and Arabs until the 20th century, the esparto industry was economically significant in the region, as fibers were extracted, treated, and braided into cords, mats, and espadrilles. Some artisanal activity continues today in many localities.

The recreation includes gypsum-associated esparto species, such as Brassica repanda subsp. gypsicola, Gypsophila struthium, and G. bermejoi, along with rock candytuft (Iberis saxatilis subsp. cinerea) and Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulifolia), among others.