Two world heritage attractions in Spain’s popular tourist region of Andalusia were on Thursday among sites affected by a bird flu outbreak that has seen parks shut and animals slaughtered.

Seville’s Maria Luisa park, a major tourist attraction and green space in the city center, was closed after dead birds were found there, the town hall said on X on Thursday.

The park would be cleared of the dead animals and disinfected, added the southern city’s town hall, which in recent days had closed three other parks where lifeless birds were discovered.

Among them were the gardens of the Real Alcazar, a medieval royal palace shaped by Islamic and Christian architectural influence and classified as a UNESCO world heritage site.

In the Donana National Park, another UNESCO site famed for its wetlands, lagoons and biodiversity, “three outbreaks with wild birds” were detected, leading to them being removed, the regional government’s top environment official Catalina Garcia wrote on X.

The regional government said in a statement on Tuesday that it was implementing measures “to avoid the bird flu spreading and stop infections in other areas”, after outbreaks were detected on two farms in Huelva province.

It said birds had been put down, without specifying their number, adding that the risk of the infection being transmitted to humans was “very low”.

© 2025 AFP