A small wooden look-out point above the roadside invites us to stop and view the scenery. If we are in luck and it is a year with an even number and the rains have been generous, we’ll see a large surface of blue water full of water birds. However, if the year is an odd number, as if by magic, instead of a lake we’ll see a ploughed and cultivated area of land 2.5 square kilometres in size. This has happened since the 16th century when a dam was built with a sluice gate that allows the lake to be drained, with the water flowing to the Gallocanta Lake.
Zaida Lake has freshwater, unlike the Gallocanta one, which enables the presence of water invertebrates and bird species, like ducks, waders, coots and grebes.
Other wetlands in the surroundings are of vital importance for birds as many of them maintain a stable body of water. Guialguerrero Lake stands out because of its ecological role.
- Access by car: the best way to view Zaida Lake is from the small look-out point at the side of the A-2506 road (from Nuévalos to the A-211). Cars can be parked at one end.
- Access for people with limited mobility: there are no infrastructures adapted for people with limited mobility.
- Legal protection: the lake is inside the boundaries of the Special Protection Area for Birds ES0000017 called Gallocanta Basin.
- Seasonality: because of the regime for the use of Zaida Lake, it only preserves its water in even-numbered years, and it also depends on the amount of rainfall in those years.
- Recommendations, what to see and do: if you visit Used, you will be surprised by its urban snow-well and numerous mansions.
Rev. PAB: 08.05.23