This species lives in terrestrial habitats, including temperate forests, semi-arid areas, walls, embankments, and slopes with small stones and sparse vegetation. It can occur in suitable modified habitat such as traditional agricultural land, and even urban areas (e.g. in Barcelona). Aquatic habitats in which the species breeds range from slow moving rivers to stagnant permanent ponds and pools; gravel and clay pits are also used. The larvae of this species frequently hibernate.

This species ranges from the northern half of Portugal and Spain (where subpopulations are very fragmented, and there is a small area of occupancy within its extent of occurrence), through most of France, to southern Belgium, extreme southeastern Netherlands, Luxembourg, western and north-central Germany, and western and northern Switzerland. Subpopulations in coastal Portugal west of Lisbon are extinct. It has been introduced to the U.K., with at least one established subpopulation (not mapped). It occurs at elevations ranging from sea level up to 2,400 m asl (in the Pyrenees). Maiorano et al. (2013) estimated the species' extent of occurrence (EOO) as 1,056,482 km².

Following genetic analysis, subpopulations from N. Aragón and most of Catalonia, Spain have now been assigned to Alytes almogavarii (Dufresnes and Martinez-Solano 2020).

Conservation Actions In-Place:
The species is presumed to occur in a number of protected areas. It is listed on Appendix II of the Berne Convention and on Annex IV of the EU Natural Habitats Directive. It is listed in a number of national and sub-national Red Data Books and is protected by national legislation in many of its range states.

Research Needed:
Further research into the current decline is needed especially into the impacts of disease.