Spain Trip May 2025 - Part 7 The Monarch butterfly walk

High on my bucket list has always been to see a Monarch butterfly - not the African Monarch which I have seen a few times in Spain, but the famous North American one, Danaus plexippus. I didn't think it was likely that I ever would unless I happened to go to a tropical butterfly house and they had any there, although they do breed in Madeira.

So I was most surprised, and excited, to stumble across somebody's blog talking about a place in Andalucia where you can see American Monarch butterflies. The reason for this is because their food plant, Milkweed, has been planted in this place. It's not a native plant of Europe so without it, the butterfly cannot breed. Every once in a while a wave of Monarchs get blown off course and land up in Europe, often in Spain, but without Milkweed they just die off when the butterfly dies its natural death. Give it the plant it needs to breed, and they will lay eggs and the whole caterpillar/butterfly cycle can happen. (What I don't understand is why these butterflies don't feel inclined to migrate, as in America they are famous for their mass migration north every summer, from Mexico where they overwinter, to as far north as Canada).

It wasn't long before we started to see the butterflies as we started our walk, which followed the course of a stream for most of the way. It was a stinking hot day, so we were pleased to have a lot of the walk in a shady area! 

The small stream, above and below, with Foxgloves growing wild above. I must admit, we didn't see any Milkweed. It must be somewhere though.

A not very good photo but the only one we managed of a wings open shot. Unfortunately the only times they settled was usually in really shady areas near the stream. They are strong flying butterflies and there were plenty around that didn't want to stop, so we don't have the best photos overall.

Iris foetidissima.

On our way to our next destination we stopped at this layby for lunch. There was a bit of a path up the hill which was surrounded by wildflowers

From the top of the path there were views to several whitewashed villages, which the Spanish call 'pueblos blancos'. There are a lot of them in parts of inland Andalucia. One of them was our next destination.

Back to the butterflies, that was a tick off the bucket list and a really enjoyable morning!

If you are reading this and want to know where the walk is, it’s near Castellar de la Frontera which is not far from Gibraltar. Look on google maps for Venta La Cantina, which is a restaurant where you can park. Just near the car park is a sign for Sendero de la Mariposa Monarca, which is also marked on google maps, so you can probably search for it. Easy peasy!