The occurrence and consequences of fire-induced water repellency have been studied in several regions of Spain since 1989. The occurrence of water repellency formed under natural conditions, however, has only been described for a few areas in Spain since 1998. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the severity of naturally occurring water repellency in the sandy soils of the Natural Park of Doñana in southern Spain. The persistence and degree of soil water repellency were measured on field-moist and dried sandy soil samples taken beneath Pinus pinea trees. Around 50% of the field-moist soil samples taken at 0–0.10 m depths exhibited (actual) water repellency. Potential water repellency, measured after drying the samples at 60°C, showed for 68% of the samples slight to extreme water repellency. The organic matter content was found to be positively correlated with persistence and with degree of potential water repellency.