Bardenas Reales sunset: times, photography and drones

Can you watch the sunset inside the park?

No. Article 3 of the park ordinance (in Spanish) sets tourist visiting hours “between 8:00 and one hour before nightfall”, and article 29 bans camping and sleeping outdoors anywhere in the Bardenas. The park says it even more plainly on its form for photo shoots: “No work or visits are authorised during sunrise, nightfall or at night” (our translation).

One hour before sunset the sun is still about 9 or 10 degrees above the horizon: warm light and long shadows, but not the reds of the sunset itself. That last hour is what you can photograph inside. For the sunset itself, go to one of the spots outside the park.

Bardenas Reales sunset and sunrise times, month by month

Official Spanish times (one hour ahead of the UK) for the Bardena Blanca, on the 15th of each month. The bold column is the time by which you must have left the park. For a specific day, the “Open today?” planner gives the exact time, together with the notices.

The leaving time is rounded down to the previous 5 minutes (sunset at 17:44, leave by 16:40). The last column shows how high the sun is when the park opens. Below about 6 degrees the light is low and golden; if the sun is not up yet, you get the sunrise within opening hours.

The best light within opening hours: mornings from September to April

• Sunrise within opening hours. From 28 September to 24 October and from 18 November to 17 February, the sun rises at 8:00 or later. If you are at the entrance at opening time, you see the sun rise inside the park without breaking any rule. Do not arrive earlier: the park is closed until 8:00.
• Low light first thing. From late August to early March, and again from the clock change at the end of March to mid-April, the sun is less than 6 degrees above the horizon at 8:00, or not up yet: your first hour in the park has the best light of the day.
• From May to August the sun is already high at 8:00 and the midday light is harsh. Look for days with storm clouds, or stay until leaving time, which is late in summer (around 20:40 in June and July).
• Watch out for hunting drives. Winter mornings coincide with the hunting season: on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from September to February, tracks may be closed from 8:00 to 14:00. For sunrise photos, pick a weekday and check the closures calendar.

Where to shoot inside the park: the loop and spots on foot

By car you may only drive on authorised tracks, at 40 km/h at most, and park only in signposted places (articles 15 to 17 of the ordinance). The park describes three routes for motor vehicles: El Ferial from the Yugo, the Bardena Blanca loop, which passes Castildetierra, and the Plana de la Negra from the Sancho Abarca sanctuary. More in the Bardenas by car and the park zones.

• Castildetierra is right by the Blanca loop. A wooden fence surrounds it: do not cross it or climb onto the upper part of the hills (cabezos). Full guide: Castildetierra.
• The Bardena Blanca from the track: gullies, buttes and cracked ground show up best in side light, early in the morning.
• The Rallón, the Pisquerra and the edge of El Plano can only be reached on foot and lie inside the ZEPA: closed from late January to September and, once they reopen, on foot only along the authorised paths. See hiking in the Bardenas.
• The military installations of the firing range must not be photographed.

Where to watch the sunset outside the park

• Sanctuary of the Virgen del Yugo (Arguedas). It stands on a 491 m hill at the gates of the park, next to the start of the El Ferial route, and you reach it by road from Arguedas (more on the Yugo). On 12 August 2026, with the park closed to the public for the eclipse, Arguedas town council set up a viewing point there (Eklipse Navarra, in Spanish). We have not found an official text saying whether park hours apply to its road: if you want to stay for the sunset, ask at the information centre.
• From the villages. Arguedas, Valtierra and Fustiñana sit right next to the Bardena; the edge of each village gives you an open horizon without entering the park. More in things to do nearby.

Wherever you are, do not drive onto a park track looking for a shot after leaving time.

Stars and the night sky

The park is closed at night, but its villages have good skies. In June 2024 the Starlight Foundation certified the Red de Parajes de la Ribera de Navarra (in Spanish), a network of stargazing spots in towns of the Ribera. According to the Navarre press, it includes Arguedas, Fustiñana, Tudela, Buñuel, Ribaforada, Cabanillas and others, and six more were announced in December 2025. The park itself does not hold that certification.

For a specific spot, ask at the town hall of the village where you are staying. To choose a base, see where to stay.

Drones: banned for recreational use

Article 40 of the ordinance bans “the use of drones for tourist or recreational purposes”. A drone may only fly during an authorised professional shoot, and that also needs permission from the Spanish Air Force, because the park surrounds a military zone. The conditions the park publishes:

• Apply to the Air Force at least 10 days in advance.
• Notify the base 24 hours before, and ask for take-off clearance by phone before each flight.
• Keep 100 m from cliffs and ponds, do not fly over ravines, and do not come within 50 m of Castildetierra or fly directly over it.

Details on the park’s filming and photo shoots page (in Spanish).

Photo shoots and filming: when you need a permit

Amateur photography is allowed without any paperwork (article 10), in general-use zones and on tracks and paths, as long as you do not disturb wildlife and use no “fixed recording equipment”, hides, bait or drones. The ordinance says nothing about tripods: a tripod you set down beside the track is not expressly banned, but any fixed set-up needs authorisation.

Professional, commercial or educational work needs authorisation from the president of the Comunidad de Bardenas. The essentials of the filming rules (in Spanish):

• A 100 € processing fee, plus 700 € per working day (1,000 € for feature films) and a deposit. Non-profit, educational or documentary work may be exempted from the daily fee if the park so decides; the 100 € processing fee is still due.
• Weekdays only, except for jobs lasting more than five days.
• Locations within 20 m of the routes for motor vehicles, and five a day at most.
• Wedding or communion shoots: no fee, but authorisation is required.
• Apply through the park’s online office (sede electrónica) or at the office at Calle San Marcial 19, Tudela; the reply comes within five working days.

Carrying out without a permit an activity that requires one is a serious offence, with fines from 6,011 to 60,101 euros (articles 58 and 61).

Practical camera tips

• Wind and dust. The cierzo, a strong north-west wind, blows often, and cars raise dust on the tracks: change lenses inside the car and carry a cloth.
• No shade, no water. In summer the heat builds fast by mid-morning. Carry water for everyone and a spare phone battery.
• Rain. When it is muddy the park advises against entering, and wet clay sticks to everything. Storm clouds make good pictures from outside.
• Respect fences and tracks. Leaving the track by car is forbidden, even for a shot, and the park does not authorise images of vehicles driving off-track.

Frequently asked questions