In September 2022, the Spanish Parliament granted legal personality to Mar Menor, a saltwater lagoon on the Mediterranean coast. It innovates in the European context, notably by outlining a list of explicit subjective rights for Mar Menor, accompanied by correlative obligations for other actors. In other respects, however, the statute borrows classic solutions or remains flawed, which is why it can only be a first step in the personalization of elements of nature that still need to be improved. This paper compares the proposals for the legal personality of Mar Menor with the theoretical alternatives and practical equivalents that already exist in Spain and France, especially with the figure of the national park. From the same perspective, its (imperfect) legal representation is contrasted with the operational reality.