The Guadalquivir Marshes (Spanish language

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

: Las Marismas del Guadalquivir) is an area of marshy lowlands near the banks of Guadalquivir River, part of Seville province

Seville (province)

Seville is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva, Badajoz, and Córdoba.Its area is 14,042 km²...

, in Western Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

 (Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

), which contains part of the territories of the municipalities of Isla Mayor

Isla Mayor

Isla Mayor is a municipality located in the province of Seville, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality, which has an area of 114 km2, has a population of 5.873 inhabitants....

, Los Palacios y Villafranca

Los Palacios y Villafranca

Los Palacios y Villafranca is a city located in the province of Seville, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the city has a population of 35,225 inhabitants.-External links:* - Holy Week - Los Palacios y Villafranca...

, La Puebla del Río

La Puebla del Río

La Puebla del Río is a city located in the province of Seville, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the city has a population of 11570 inhabitants. With a surface of 377 square km and located 15km away SW from Seville La Puebla del Río is located 37 ° 16 'N, 6 º 03' W at an altitude of 22m...

, Villafranco del Guadalquivir, Utrera

Utrera

Utrera is a municipality in south-west Spain. It is in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. As of 2008 it has a population close to 50,202....

, Las Cabezas de San Juan

Las Cabezas de San Juan

Las Cabezas de San Juan is a village and municipality located in the Bajo Guadalquivir comarca, in Seville province, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2009 census , the village has a population of 16.464 inhabitants. Famous people from Las Cabezas de San Juan include Villarreal CF player Carlos...

  and Lebrija

Lebrija

Lebrija is a city in the province of Seville, Andalusia , near the left bank of the Guadalquivir river, and on the eastern edge of the marshes known as Las Marismas....

.

The main economic activity is agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, with emphasis on the cultivation of rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, with 400 km² and a production output of 310,000 metric tones (approximately 40% of Spain rice production). The area behaves like a natural buffer to Doñana National Park

Doñana National Park

-Conservation:In 1989 the surroundings of the national park were given more protection when a buffer zone was declared a natural park under the management of the regional government. The two parks, national and natural, have since been classified as a single natural landscape.In 1994 UNESCO...

.

Approximately twenty centuries ago, it was a large inner lake, known as Lacus Ligustinus in Latin, surrounded by the Guadalquivir River and its tributaries and coastal sand bars to the South. The lake later became infilled with deposited sediment, gradually giving way to the current marshes.