Casa de Fusta

The Ebro Delta in Spain is an amazing environment, but it’s far from being natural. Originally much of the delta was used for salt pans for extracting sea salt. But when the industry declined, the land was transformed into marshes and wetlands that attracted hordes of water birds. This in turn attracted hunters, and in the 1920s three aristocrats got together to form a hunting society which negotiated a temporary concession on the delta.

The fleeting nature of the agreement meant that the hunting society needed a temporary hunting lodge on the land. As a result, they had a large, wooden, prefabricated building shipped over from Canada at great expense.

When it was constructed, the lodge would have looked like a total oddball building on the delta. At the time, most of the the buildings on the delta were wattle and daub walled barracas with thatched roofs. The contrast in construction methods was stark, and the arrival and construction of this wooden “kit” house must have been a real-eye opener to the locals.

The old lodge now houses a visitor center and museum run by the natural park. Step inside, and you can find out about the hydrology, development, and wildlife of the delta. There’s also a comprehensive display of stuffed birds and information about the backstory of the development of the delta, told from the point of view of its first marsh warden Marti.