El Hondo

El Fondo
Natural Park of El Fondo as seen from Crevillent.
Location	Spain
Coordinates	38°10′55″N 0°45′9″W / 38.18194°N 0.75250°W / 38.18194; -0.75250
Area	2.495 ha
Designation	Natural Park
Established	12 December 1988
Governing body	Generalitat Valenciana

The Natural Park of El Fondo (Valencian: Parc Natural del Fondo, Spanish: Parque Natural de El Hondo) is located within the municipal boundaries of Elx/Elche and Crevillent both of which are within the comarca (district) of Baix Vinalopó in the south of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. Both the rivers Vinalopó and Segura discharge into the lagoons that form this park.

The park is included in the Ramsar convention list of protected wetlands and as a Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. It has an area of 2,495 hectares and was declared a Natural Park by the Valencian government (Generalitat Valenciana) on 12 December 1988.

This natural park is formed by a number of lagoons, of which the two largest are manmade and are called Levante, which has a surface area of 450 hectares and Poniente, with an area of 650 hectares. These two lagoons are fed by the waters of the river Segura. El Fondo and the Salinas of Santa Pola as well as the surrounding area formed part of the Albufera of Elx/Elche known to the Romans as ″Senus Illicitanus″. The area of the park was infilled in the 17th century due to natural sedimentation and the placing of silt in order to create new areas for cultivation. At the same time the two largest lagoons were damned to supply water for irrigation.

The natural park has a semi-arid Mediterranean climate due to its location in the south east of the Iberian peninsula.