Fish of Spain

The two sea frontages have almost nothing in common. The northern Atlantic, cold, well-mixed and strongly tidal, holds a northern European fauna; the Mediterranean, warmer, clearer and effectively tideless, holds quite another. The southern tip of the country is one of the few places where the two meet.

Inland, water is a counted resource. The great rivers — Ebro, Tagus, Douro, Guadalquivir — have been dammed into vast reservoirs that are now among the most fished waters in the country. Those artificial lakes have profoundly changed the fauna of the basins concerned.

Summer heat shapes the season. Across much of the country, fishing concentrates into early morning and evening from June to September, while spring and autumn offer the fullest days.