Birds and animals in Isabel la Católica park, Gijón

Isabel la Católica park in Gijón has white and black swans, mandarin ducks, geese, peacocks, pheasants and pigeons, plus wild birds that arrive in autumn and winter. The council's guide records 92 bird species seen in the park, 49 of them tied to the ponds.

Anyone who walks through Isabel la Católica park ends up in the same place: on the bank of the big pond, watching swans. It is Gijón's most traditional park, laid out over an old marsh of the river Piles, and its two ponds still draw birds down from northern Europe every autumn. This is what you can see, according to the council's own publications, and the practical bits for getting there.

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Which birds you can see

The guide «Aves del Parque Isabel La Católica», published by the council with EMULSA, records 92 bird species seen in the park between 2003 and 2006, 49 of them tied to the water of the ponds. Among wildfowl alone, the family of swans, geese and ducks, it counts up to 37 different species.

There are two groups. Birds brought in as ornamentals: white swans and black swans, mandarin ducks, geese and barnacles, and on land peacocks, pheasants and pigeons. And the wild ones, which arrive on their own: the common pochard and the tufted duck, two diving ducks; the coot, the moorhen, the great cormorant, which tends to perch in the trees around the water, and several gulls. With the mallard, the guide admits it is not always clear whether a bird belongs to the park or has flown in.

The park is also home to plenty of small birds: blackbirds, robins, great tits, goldfinches and sparrows, which the same guide describes one by one.

When to go to see more

Autumn and winter are the best time. The guide explains that every year large numbers of waterbirds come to the ponds and the Canal del Molino, most of them from northern Europe, escaping the cold: some stay all winter and others only stop over. In spring they pass through again on their way back.

Now and then rare visitors turn up from North America, such as Delaware gull or Bonaparte's gull. Because of the number of migrating birds, in the 70s the ponds were proposed for the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance, although they were never actually added.

A fair warning, from the guide itself: not every bird is always there. They hide on the islets or in the vegetation, move around during the day, and the migrants only use the pond for a few months. Next to the big pond there are panels with drawings of the most common species, which help put names to them.

Swans from Antwerp and an aviary from 1957

The park was born out of a health problem: the Piles marshes were unhealthy, and in the 1930s it was decided to drain and fill them to make a park. According to the council's book on its history, the commission went in 1941 to the gardener Ramón Ortiz, and the council notes that the land was not fully drained until the 60s.

The animals came early. The same book says that in 1952 three pairs of swans were bought from Antwerp zoo, and they reached Gijón in August 1953, just as the pond was officially opened. The large aviary opened on 19 March 1957. In its first decades the park even had red and roe deer, guineafowl and a talking parrot.

It has not all been peaceful. According to Wikipedia, in 2014 otters killed more than 200 birds on the ponds, including all the black swans, and an electric fence had to be put up. In 2023 the council dredged and cleaned the ponds: the average depth of the big one went from no more than 50 centimetres to 1.5 metres.

What else is inside

Besides the water, the dovecote and the aviary, which the council refurbished along with other park buildings, there is a rose garden, children's play areas and the Parque Infantil de Tráfico, where since 1964 children have been taught the rules of the road on bicycles, according to Wikipedia. The council lists 65 plant species, with more than 1200 specimens, and the park is protected as a historic garden and a Bien de Interés Cultural.

Among the sculptures is the world's first monument to Alexander Fleming, unveiled on 18 September 1955 with his widow, Amalia Fleming, in attendance; the statue of Isabel la Católica by Marino Amaya, from 1965; and the busts of Nicanor Piñole and Evaristo Valle, both by Manuel Álvarez Laviada. On the river side, a 14,000 square metre pedestrian extension joined the park to the Kilometrín, the running circuit beside the Piles.

For more background as you walk round, the council offers a virtual tour with audio guide on the park's page, in Spanish, Asturian and English.

Dogs, opening hours and getting there

Dogs: the council's bylaw on pets requires them to be on a lead of no more than two metres in public spaces, bans them from children's play areas in parks, and only allows them off the lead in areas fenced off and signposted for the purpose. Gijón has more than 40 such green spaces; the sign at each spot is what counts. The council gave initial approval to a new bylaw at the full council meeting of 15 July 2026, which is not yet in force.

Opening hours: the council's page for the park does not give any. What the council does do is close it as a precaution when storm warnings are issued, as it did with the park, the avenida del Molinón and the Kilometrín one weekend of heavy rain.

Getting there: the park is in the El Bibio district, with its reference entrance on avenida de Castilla, at the corner with avenida de Torcuato Fernández Miranda. The council's page lists EMTUSA lines L14 and L25, which according to the network map run from Sotiello and from Tremañes to L'Infanzón. From San Lorenzo beach you can walk along the avenida del Molinón, which is pedestrianised.

Checked

Checked in October 2026 against the council's page for the park, the guide «Aves del Parque Isabel La Católica» (Gijón council and EMULSA, 2006), the council's book «Un parque para las cuatro estaciones», council news on the buildings, the dredging, the extension and the storm closure, the pet bylaw (BOPA of 24 March 2011), the council's page on dog areas and the EMTUSA map of March 2025. Wikipedia, for the district, the sculptures, the Parque Infantil de Tráfico and the otters.