The Charco del Zorro beauty spot just outside Jumilla

A popular spot for a day out among locals just behind the castle hill

Many visitors to the town of Jumilla in the north of the region of Murcia don’t have enough time to venture round to the “other” side of the hill on which the castle stands, but locals who are in the know are all aware that here there is a charming beauty spot which is popular for picnics and swimming in the summer.

This is the body of water named “Charco del Zorro” (the pond of the fox), which occupies part of the bed of the Rambla de la Alquería, a water channel down which rainfall runs from the north of the municipality. Where this rambla meets the Rambla de Salinas a small wetland area has formed due to the impermeable nature of the rocks below, and the moisture has led to a verdant landscape with elms, pines, sambucus and juncus trees which is home to numerous bird, amphibian, reptile and insect species.

In the first half of 2019 the Town Hall funded work to carry out improvements and repairs at the Charco del Zorro, making it even more popular among the local population. In the same year the area was included in the National Inventory of Wetlands (Inventario Nacional de Zonas Húmedas), affording it protected status along with 52 other such areas in the Region of Murcia: the two other wetlands in Jumilla are those of the Salinas de la Rosa and the Salinas del Principal.

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