In the heart of Fuerteventura, close to the town of Antigua, are Salinas del Carmen Saltworks. This charming place—the only saltworks still in operation on the island—is situated right on the oceanfront and boasts a lovely beach. On a getaway to Fuerteventura a visit to the saltworks is more than worth a visit, as it is a great opportunity to see salt being extracted using traditional methods and to visit its fascinating Salt Museum.
Salinas del Carmen Saltworks cover an area of 26,000 m2 and are formed of ten inlet tanks (where the seawater is stored) and almost 1,000 salt ponds (in which the seawater is evaporated). In the complex you can discover the salt store, the salt worker’s house and remains of the old jetty.
Saltworks with over 100 years of history
Salinas del Carmen Saltworks began in 1910 as Salinas de la Hondurilla or Salinas de la Torre saltworks for the purposes of producing salt with maximum results. Since then, extracting salt from the sea for culinary purposes has not ceased. What’s more, its particular way of obtaining salt from sea foam, along with the waves that crash day after day, make for a white salt that is rich in trace metals.
The facilities have since been restored and the surrounding area has also been fitted out to make the saltworks a place with important ethnographic, architectural and scenic value.
The Salt Museum of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks
The Salt Museum of Fuerteventura, situated within Salinas del Carmen Saltworks, is one of the most visited museums on the island due to the beauty of the salt ponds and mounds of white salt. The museum consists of the cultural complex of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks as well as an exhibition demonstrating the importance that salt production has for the island. Visiting the museum comes highly recommended, as it combines nature, culture and traditions.
A visit to the museum consists of two routes, one inside and the other outside. In the interior, visitors are able to see an educational exhibition explaining the formation and history of salt, saline ecosystems and the culture and different applications of salt. In the modern building you can also see audiovisual material related to salt production at Salinas del Carmen Saltworks.
In the outdoor area you can observe, as part of a guided tour, a saltworks in full working order, and view the traditional process for extracting sea salt in action. It’s well worth the effort to see up close how salt makes the transition from the sea to the cooking pot.
Salinas del Carmen Saltworks: a journey back to the Fuerteventura of 1910
The Salt Museum of Fuerteventura also takes visitors back to the glory days of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks in the early twentieth century. The house of Mr Manuel Velázquez Cabrera, the developer and owner of the saltworks, can be seen as it was in 1910. In his office visitors can learn about the general history of the Canary Islands’ saltworks, and that of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks in particular. You’ll also be able to learn about how salt is produced and the particular features of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks, whilst visiting the store housing the salt workers’ tools and getting a glimpse into daily life in the saltworks through old photographs.
To top off your visit, an animation immerses you in the history of Fuerteventura’s saltworks by means of an interactive experience using new technologies to take you all the way back to the twentieth century.
The glory days of the Canary Islands’ saltworks
It’s worth noting that the development of the Canary Islands cannot be understood without salt. Saltworks were incorporated into the Royal Treasury in 1605, the point at which the golden age of the islands’ salt industry began. Nevertheless, in the twentieth century the saltworks fell into decline, firstly due to the Second World War and later because of the new General Mining Law, which damaged the artisanal work of saltworks to such an extent that most of the Canary Islands’ saltworks disappeared.
The Museum of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks invites visitors to become a salt worker for the day by touring the salt production facilities and walking through the ponds and inlet tanks outside the house of Mr Velázquez Cabrera. If you accept the challenge, you’ll learn all the secrets of the artisanal trade and will be able to touch the salt with your own hands and learn how to use the appropriate tools for the whole extraction process.
Features of Salinas del Carmen Saltworks
Fuerteventura’s Salinas del Carmen Saltworks are unique in that instead of water being pumped or left to flow through channels as it is in other saltworks, here it is done through the inlet basin. The wind sends waves crashing against the rocks, which in turn creates the foam in which the most salt accumulates. And hence the very high quality of the salt produced at these saltworks.
The process is simple and completely natural, and only uses the force of the ocean and the wind to carry water to the inlet tanks and ponds of the saltworks. The water is heated by the sun and, once it has evaporated, salt is extracted from the bottom and is left to drain on the sides of the ponds. Finally, the clean, dry salt is stored before being packaged in the warehouse.
Salinas del Carmen Saltworks shop and restaurant
After having immersed yourself in how the saltworks function, don’t forget to visit the museum shop and buy a bag or two of the salt extracted from these magical saltworks, a highly-coveted souvenir for those visiting Fuerteventura. You can also enjoy Fuerteventura’s typical food at the restaurant Las Salinas del Carmen. There you’ll be able to savour delicious food and, of course, fresh fish cooked in salt from Salinas del Carmen Saltworks.
