This lizard reaches a total length (including tail) of 20 cm (8 in), and feeds primarily on small invertebrates such as insects, arachnids, and snails.

Being specialized on Mediterranean climates with cool to warm summers, it has stable populations at the Atlantic coast, occupying sand dunes with barely any vegetation.

However, the remaining inland populations in the western mountainous Sistema Central, where it inhabits up to 1,200 m (3,937 ft), seem to rapidly decrease, probably a result of global warming.

[5] Carbonell's wall lizard has a number of isolated populations and its total geographic range is less than 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi).

Although it is common in some suitable habitats, in general the population is thought to be declining and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being an "endangered species".