The European dipper has a fragmented distribution across the mountainous regions of Europe, the Maghreb, the Middle East, and Asia (Del Hoyo et al., 2005; Keller et al., 2020; BirdLife International, 2024). In Spain, it is found in the rivers of the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, the Cantabrian Mountains, Montes de León and Galicia, as well as in the Basque mountains. To the south, it occurs in the main mountain systems: northern Iberian System and the Central System, and some mountains in Andalusia, such as Cazorla and Segura, Ronda, and Sierra Nevada (Piñeiro in SEO/BirdLife, 2022).

In Madrid, it is distributed in the northern third of the Community, in mid- and high-mountain areas. It occupies the headwaters and upper stretches of Madrid rivers, in areas with little human influence and good water quality (Díaz et al., 1994).

During the fieldwork for this atlas, it was rarely detected, although sightings are known in different river sections, both in La Pedriza and in the Lozoya River valley. It has been detected in the Aguilón stream in the Cascadas del Purgatorio area, in a river section with rapids, highly rocky substrate, and shallow depth. There are many river sections in the park with these characteristics, so despite its low detectability, it likely breeds in much of the protected area.