So, you’ve swapped rainy UK streets for sunny Spanish life. You’re living the dream: orange trees, tapas… and now… giant black spiders lurking in your garden walls. Let’s look at the Spanish Funnel Web Spider, in this instance.
Welcome to Spain.
Here’s the good news:
Unless you’re actively rummaging under logs, lifting rocks without looking, or redecorating your dry-stone wall with your bare hands, you’ll probably never meet one face-to-face.
But for those of us who’ve gone full DIY warrior, gardening enthusiast, or (foolishly) decided to clear out that long-forgotten woodpile at the bottom of the garden… here’s what you need to know:
🕷️Where They Might Be Lurking (AKA Places You Now Avoid Without Gloves)
✅ Under rocks
✅ In log piles
✅ Dry-stone walls
✅ Along shady, overgrown garden edges
✅ Around tree bases (yes, even that lovely old olive tree you’re so proud of)
If you spot a white, sheet-like web with a funnel-shaped entrance, that’s your warning to back away slowly and reconsider your weekend plans.
Pets and Kids: Should You Panic?
No.
But…
✅ Dogs and curious cats that like sticking noses in holes?
Keep an eye on them, especially in late spring and summer when the spiders are most active.
✅ Children playing hide and seek behind the woodpile?
Gently redirect them towards safer, spider-free entertainment (like chasing lizards or ignoring your requests to tidy up).
Heard The One About The The Spanish Funnel Web Spider Who Hitched A Lift To The UK?
If you’ve ever opened a crate of olives from Andalucía and found something staring back at you with eight hairy legs and a bad attitude, congratulations…
You’ve just met Spain’s very own Funnel Web Spider, also known to science types as Macrothele calpeiana.
Yes, in March 2025, one lucky Brit in West Sussex got exactly that surprise when one of these beauties hitched a ride from Córdoba.
Suddenly, unpacking olives became an unplanned wildlife documentary. This particular Spanish Funnel Web Spider is now living in the North Eat, near Hartlepool, England
✅ Europe’s Biggest Spider… But Let’s Not Get Too Dramatic
According to the British Arachnological Society, this particular breed the Spanish Funnel Web Spider has held the unofficial title of “Europe’s Largest Spider” since way back in 1989.
(Although knowing Spain, I’m surprised there hasn’t been an annual festival to celebrate this fact yet.)
At full stretch, these things can span up to 8cm across, with a 3.5cm chunky body, and spinnerets so long they look like extra legs stuck on the back end.
But before you start Googling antidotes or planning your relocation…
Yes, it’s venomous.
No, it’s not deadly.
Unless you’re an insect, in which case… condolences.
✅ What’s in a Name? (And Why Gibraltar Gets Dragged Into This)
The scientific name of the Spanish Funnel Web Spider is Macrothele calpeiana comes from:
- “Macro” = Big
- “Thele” = Spinnerets (basically its silk-making bits)
- “Calpeiana” = Gibraltar (Calpe was the ancient name for the Rock of Gibraltar)
Because nothing says spider discovery like naming it after a large British military outpost clinging to the bottom of Spain.
✅ Where Do They Live?
If you’re wandering around Andalucia, especially near Cádiz and Málaga provinces, you’re in prime Spanish Funnel Web Spider territory.
Their favourite hangouts include:
- Los Alcornocales Natural Park (Cadiz) – A damp, cork oak-filled, slightly spooky forest
- Scattered patches of Sevilla, Huelva, Granada, Jaén, Gibraltar, and even as far north as Extremadura
Outside Spain?
A couple of small populations have popped up in North Africa, likely accidental exports from Spain, and there’s the odd sighting in southern France… mostly thanks to olive tree imports. (Olives: the gift that keeps on giving.) Oh and one in the UK!
✅ Spotting One: Web Design by Arachnid Architects
The first clue you’re near one of these?
A silky, white, sheet-like web, often spread out over:
- Rocks
- Twigs
- Tree trunks
- Even dry-stone walls
At the centre, the sheet narrows into a funnel-shaped tunnel entrance leading down into cooler underground depths (up to 80cm below ground in some cases).
If you’re really lucky, you might notice silken trip wires stretched out around the entrance – like the spider’s personal burglar alarm system.
✅ Mistaken Identity: Not a Trapdoor Spider… But Close
Sometimes people confuse the Spanish Funnel Web Spider with male trapdoor spiders, especially Amblyocarenum walckenaeri.
Understandable.
Both love holes in the ground, both build clever silk-lined homes, and both look like they’d bite you just for looking at them funny.
✅ Behaviour and Hunting: Night-Time Ambush Experts
They’re mostly nocturnal hunters.
After dark, the Spanish Funnel Web Spider waits near its tunnel entrance for something foolish (like a beetle or cricket) to stumble onto the web.
Once the web twitches… it’s game over for the prey.
With fangs big enough to make your skin crawl, the spider injects venom that begins liquefying the victim from the inside out.
Then it wraps dinner in silk and drags it back down the burrow like a proud, if slightly terrifying, homeowner.
After eating, they’re surprisingly tidy housekeepers:
All leftover food bits get dumped outside the web, followed by a solid hour of grooming (because even nightmare fuel needs self-care).
✅ Mating: A Dangerous Love Life
From April to May, males come out looking for love.
Or more specifically: wandering around at night in the hope of finding a female without becoming her next snack.
The male’s guided by pheromones in the female’s web, leading to a careful, tiptoeing courtship dance that screams:
“Please don’t eat me, I just want to mate.”
If successful:
The female bulks up on food, seals herself away in early July, and produces an egg sac containing anything from 100 to 250 spiderlings.
✅ Baby Spider Drama: Sibling Cannibalism, Obviously
After their first moult inside the sac, the spiderlings emerge at night, clustering near mum’s web.
They feed on small prey… or sometimes on each other (classic spider sibling behaviour).
Eventually, the survivors disperse, heading off to build their own tunnels and continue the circle of spidery life.
✅ Should You Be Worried?
Short answer: No.
Unless you’re:
- An insect
- A small lizard
- The unlucky person moving logs or rocks in their habitat without looking first
If threatened, they’ll rear up, display their impressive fangs, and might even give an audible hiss for dramatic effect.
A bite will hurt (a lot), with localised swelling and discomfort, but no trips to A&E required.
Dave’s Tip:
If you’re gardening or hiking near known spider spots… gloves and a stick are your friends.
If You’re Bitten (Which Is Rare, Unless You’re Really Unlucky)
- Expect pain, local swelling, and a bit of dramatic language on your part.
- Wash the area.
- Ice it.
- If you’re allergic to insect bites in general… or start feeling odd…
Go see a doctor, just to be safe.
But let’s be honest:
You’ll probably tell the story for years as “That Time Spain Tried to Kill Me in My Own Garden”, even though medically it’s just a painful, but non-serious bite.
Should You Kill It?
Honestly… no.
They’re a protected species in Spain, especially Macrothele calpeiana.
They’re also fantastic at controlling garden pests like cockroaches, crickets, and beetles.
The Andalusian Funnel-Web Spider (Macrothele calpeiana) is indeed a protected species in Spain and across the EU, listed under the European Union Habitats Directive (Annex II).
This means:
Its natural habitats are meant to be protected and preserved
Its populations are monitored
Intentional harm, killing, capturing, or trade of this species is prohibited in EU member states (including Spain)
So unless you’re a heartless arachnophobe with a vendetta…
Leave them be.
If one turns up somewhere awkward (like your shed or your BBQ storage), your best bet is to gently encourage it to relocate with a broom and a lot of nervous swearing… or call in someone with more courage and thicker gloves.
✅ Final Word
✅ The Spanish Funnel Web Spider may look like something from your worst nightmares, but it’s more interested in beetles than Brits.
✅ They play an important role in the ecosystem, are largely shy, and really just want to be left alone to sit in their silk-lined bachelor pads.
✅ Admire from a distance.
✅ Don’t poke around sheet-like webs unless you want a fast-moving, eight-legged surprise.
✅ And for the love of tapas… check your imported olive trees carefully.
By the way… just in case you were thinking of going full pest-control-mode with a broom and bad attitude… Macrothele calpeiana is protected under the EU Habitats Directive, meaning it’s illegal to harm or capture them. Best advice? Leave it alone, have a beer, and let it get on with its business of eating garden pests.
