The Espiche River () is a small river in the south central region of the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

which rises a little south east of the village of

Algoz Algoz () is a town and the seat of the civil parish of Algoz e Tunes in the municipality of Silves, in Algarve, Portugal. It has about 3000 inhabitants. History According to some theories, the name of the town has its origins in the Arabic wor ...

. It runs south towards the south coast, and its mouth is at the Praia dos Salgados between

Armação de Pêra Armação de Pêra is a town (''vila'') and Portuguese parish (''freguesia'') in the municipality of Silves.Detail Regional Map, Algarve- Southern Portugal, The population in 2011 was 4,867, in an area of 7.99 km². The village used to be ca ...

and

Albufeira Albufeira () is a city and seat of its own municipality in the district of Faro, in the southernmost Portuguese region of Algarve. The municipality population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 28,645 in 2021 ...

Description

The river runs for a length of from its spring to the mouth at Salgados.

Salgados Lagoon

Behind the beach is an area of wetland called the Salgados Lagoon which is fed by the waters of the river. It is a shallow salt marsh which was restored and is now an important wildlife habitat for the area. The east banks of the lagoon have been transformed into a golf course. Whilst the west bank behind the sand bar has been conserved as a large wetland which has become an excellent habitat for a large variety of water fowl and has become an important stopping point for thousands of migrating birds. The lagoon has been classified as an IBA (Important Bird Area). It has been estimated that Salgados has upwards of 5,000 water fowl of 60 different species. These species include Purple gallinule, Purple heron and is a nesting site for the

Ferruginous duck The ferruginous duck (''Aythya nyroca''), also known as ferruginous pochard, common white-eye or white-eyed pochard, is a medium-sized diving duck from Eurosiberia. The scientific name is derived from Greek '' aithuia'' an unidentified seabird ...

Zoomarine

Further up stream from the coast the river passes around the western perimeter of the visitor attraction called the ''Zoomarine'' theme park and crosses under the N125 principal east to west coast road.

References

Rivers of Portugal Rivers of the Algarve {{Portugal-river-stub