To the north of Burgos is Poza de la Sal, a small municipality of just 300 inhabitants that would surely go unnoticed – despite being located in a privileged natural environment – if it weren’t for the fact that our most famous naturalist and environmental promoter was born there: Félix Rodríguez de the fountain.
It was precisely there, on his walks through the countryside, where his intense love for nature was born, a love that Felix knew, at a time when the Harmful Animal Extinction Boards were still in force in Spain , to disseminate and share with citizens of all the world.
Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente graduated in Medicine from the University of Valladolid and graduated in stomatology, and in fact came to practice as a dentist in Madrid, a profession that he left shortly after to dedicate himself to his passions: falconry and environmental disclosure.
The drivers of the defense of nature
Felix was not the only defender of nature of his time. Francisco Bernis or José Antonio Valverde were other great naturalists who contributed to implanting the germ of conservation in our country, and took giant steps such as the creation of the Doñana National Park or the founding of the Spanish Ornithological Society. But, surely, Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente was the most mediatic, and got his message in defense of all species to reach the five continents, as evidenced by his most famous documentary series: Man and Earth.
Despite the criticism received for the use of die-cut animals for the production of his documentaries, the legacy of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente has transcended generations and inspired many movements in defense of nature. He was the founder of the Montejo de la Vega Raptor Refuge, participated in the formation of the Spanish delegation of the World Wide Fund for Nature, and achieved important legislative advances for the protection of various threatened species. In short, it contributed to change the mentality at a time when environmentalism and nature conservation were still in their infancy in our country.
In 1980, Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente died in an accident in Alaska , a region where he had traveled to shoot a dog sled race. His plane crashed and all its occupants perished. In 2004, his family created the Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente Foundation in order to perpetuate the legacy of our most famous environmental promoter.
