Joined a Naturetrek wolf-watching trip to Spain last week but, alas, no wolves despite 3 days of serious dusk and dawn watching. Wolves are seen on the great majority of these trips but not this one - partly due to a fair bit of mist and rain which made viewing difficult, and probably made the wolves less active.
Actually, I'm surprised the wolves are seen as often as they are: each pack in this area has a territory of about about 250 square miles and apparently ranges over it unpredictably. We visited viewpoints overlooking 3 territories, but obviously in each case could only scan a small portion of the pack's range. There are also major blocks of woodland, plus scrubby vegetation tall enough to make a wolf slipping through hard to spot.
There's no reason the area can't be visited independently, and indeed Spanish and French wildlife watchers do so, although a permit from the local authority is needed to go off-road: I'm not sure everyone bothers with this, but in theory you could be escorted away by the park rangers without one, and from public roads you're chances of seeing the animals are likely to be low. The whole area is a hunting preserve, and the rangers tend to know the wolves' movements better than anyone, though they're still often in the dark about what the animals are up to or where they are.
Please feel free to PM me for more info.
Despite the lack of wolves I enjoyed the trip and might do it again - there are great landscapes and old villages, and a good, simple guesthouse to stay in. The Naturetrek guides Byron and John were great company and sharp-eyed wildlife watchers. We had one good wild boar sighting, hours of red and roe deer - and a fresh wolf paw-print.
The lack of wolves meant I was glad I'd factored in other elements to the trip - soaking up a bit of Spanish urban life in Vallodolid and studying Vermeer and Manet in Paris. Was also pleased to find how easy and affordable a low-pollution trip to Spain is: Eurostar in the afternoon to hook up with the Paris-Madrid sleeper gets you there without fuss.
cheers
James