back to that period and work has continued up to the present day. Ibiza salt has become the island’s great gourmet product, yielding an excellent harvest of 68,000 tonnes in the last year. “Sal de Ibiza salt is produced by unique seawater, home to Posidonia sea grass and rich in trace elements and minerals that complement our diet and are important for health; you can’t find them in any other food” says Maria Antònia Amen-gual Comas, head of the Gourmet and Organic Salts depart-ment at Salinera Española. It wasn’t until the late 19th century, around 1878, when two merchants from the island of Majorca founded the Sal de Ibiza salt factory, which would go on to become what’s now Salinera Española. Their factory was the launch pad for marketing this product and gaining the international fame it enjoys today. Located at the southern end of the island, in the municipality of Sant Josep de Sa Talaia, the Salinas de Ibi-za salt pans occupy an area of 600 hectares, some six million square metres. In 1995 they were declared a Natural Reserve and in 2001 they were listed as a Protected Natural Area by the Balearic Parliament. “The Salinas de Ibiza salt pans are a focal point of environmental attention and tourism, both of which are valuable for the island and exist in symbiosis with salt extraction, which undoubtedly contributes to the con-servation of Mediterranean wetland native plant and animal species” adds Amengual. A salt and gourmet product fair The town of Sant Josep de Sa Talaia has been linked to the conservation and promotion of the salt industry and its her-itage for decades. Every year on 19 and 20 October, the town holds the Fira de la Sal (salt fair), an event where you can learn about the culture and history of salt and that “pays tribute to the memory of the people who worked on the salt pans”. Torre de sa Sal Rossa stands at the southern end of Playa d’en Bossa in area belonging to the parish of Sant Francesc de s’Es-tany. The tower was built in the 16th century to protect and defend the salt loading area and is a vantage point with views of Formentera. You can also visit the old docks, the Plaza de la Sal in La Xanga; the Salt Pan Workers’ monument by sculp-tor Pedro Juan Hormigo, and the Sant Francesc de ses Salines Interpretation Centre, all in the area covered by Ses Salines Natural Park. But the value of salt goes beyond its cultural heritage, it also plays a major role as an essential gastronomy product. “30% is exported to northern Europe for salting cod, 35% is exported to Europe as salt for defrosting and 20% for making gourmet and organic products that are exported all over the world” says Maria Antònia Amengual. In the past, salt was tra-ditionally used as a preservative for dried olives or fish, and even today you can still try bones with cabbage, a dish pre-pared with salted pork bones and served in some local res-taurants. It can truly be said that Ibiza’s salt horizon is almost limitless, as Arab geographer Al-Himyari said in 1300 about the island: “There is a salt pan where the salt never runs out”. Las salinas con una caseta de Sal de Ibiza. // The salt pans with a Sal de Ibiza booth.