Salinas de Janubio
The Salinas de Janubio are the largest salt works politically to Spain belonging to the Canary Islands . They are located on the southwest coast of the island of Lanzarote in the island municipality of Yaiza .
history
Agriculture was once practiced in the area of today's salt pans. In the lagoon , which is three meters deep on average and separated from the Atlantic by a tongue of land, the family-run salt production plant was built in 1895, as there were natural salt deposits here. The salt pans still extend over an area of around 45 hectares. The neighboring towns of La Hoya and Las Breñas were created by the salt industry. Up to the 1970s, up to 10,000 tons of sea salt were extracted here with at times more than a hundred workers. This salt was mainly used by local and Spanish fishing fleets to preserve fish.
However, when the catch quotas declined, new cooling techniques prevailed and foreign competing products came onto the market, salt production had to be drastically cut back.
function
First, with the help of windmills, the sea water from the lagoon was pumped into the terraced basin system through a narrow network of branched channels. Electric pumps later took on this task.
The seawater that is pumped into the upper shallow basin, which contains around 3.5 percent salt, evaporates from the sun and wind. The salt concentration of the water in the basin increases continuously. This brine is directed into deeper basins. The salts dissolved from the water crystallize at the bottom of the pool in the upper pool, initially as gypsum and further down as rock salt . After the residual water has been drained or the pools themselves have fallen dry, workers pile up the salt. Then coarse dirt such as stones are removed from the salt and the salt is washed with saturated water. Now the very pure salt can either be finely ground or packaged directly, depending on the intended use.
Todays situation
Around a fifth of the entire plant is still used today for salt production, and continues to be a non-subsidized family business. Around ten salt farmers currently extract around 2,000 tons of sea salt per year, some of which is still used for fish preservation, but is also used as a chlorine substitute in swimming pools or is sold as table salt on the local market.
Depending on the position of the sun, the salt basins of the salt pans, which can be viewed from the road, are in different colors, which are produced by salt-loving microorganisms, the so-called halophiles . The unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina , for example , with its high carotenoid content , is responsible for the reddish-orange discoloration. Salt hills, historical windmills, partly dilapidated buildings and masonry can also be seen.
natural reserve
The salt pans have developed into an ecosystem with special, natural characteristics of the surrounding flora and fauna. The surrounding vegetation is halophilic, i.e. it loves salt. The hoopoe and the bullfinch use the Salinas de Janubio as a breeding area. In addition, various migratory birds settle here in the winter months, including whimbrels , little egrets and stilts .
In 1987 the Salinas de Janubio were declared the Paraje Natural de Interés Nacional del Janubio , a natural landscape of national interest . In 1994, as part of the European Neighborhood Policy, it was classified as Sitio de Interés Científico , an area of scientific interest .
Web links
Coordinates: 28 ° 56 ′ 13 ″ N , 13 ° 49 ′ 28 ″ W.