Ibiza's White Gold

Published 17 September 2007 Stephen White.

Tags: Beaches, Ibiza News

the hot sun evaporates the water

Here in Ibiza, where our main industries are tourism, agriculture and salt production, each with their own quite different climatic demands, there will always be winners and losers.
This year the salt producers of Ibiza are the losers. The 'coolest' and wettest August for years was the worst possible combination that could occur down at the Las Salinas salt pans. As you know, salt is produced there using a method of evaporation developed thousands of years ago.

Salt Mountain

August is the key month as the hot sun evaporates the water in the salt pans, leaving a crust of salt to be collected and sprinkled over your chips. This year the temperatures weren't high enough to cause this evaporation and the hundred litres of water per square metre of rainfall only caused the saline solution to become even weaker.
Normally by September this crust of salt is at least 10 cm thick. At the moment it's only around 7cm, and the prediction is that salt production will be down by 30% on last year. However it's not just the weather that prevents higher salt yields. Because the salt pans are in a Natural Park there are restrictions on the modernisation of the facilities there.
We're sure that tourists baking on Las Salinas beach and the salt producers alike will be praying that September remains sunny and dry.

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