A little ways from the fishing village El Golfo, on the south coast of Lanzarote, is the salt mine Salinas de Janubio.
Letting the gaze wander across Salinas de Janubio evokes the image of a big display case with brown, red, grey and black compartments. We got a view of this odd layout from the road whilst on our round trip of the island and it interested us enough to pull over into the little car park.
More than 10000 tons of salt were mined here every year in the 19th century. These were the times were salt mining was vital for the survival of the fishermen. The salt was used to preserve their catch.
Today, running the salt mine became inefficient and only little amounts of salt are mined here.
But we came across the salt shop by chance. Those who go all the way down to the salt fields can purchase high-quality salt for reasonable prices. It comes in simple packaging directly from the small warehouse. Back at home, we filled it into nicer jars and gave it away as gifts from our trip to the island.
The salt fields were declared a natural landscape of national interest due to its special eco-system. Vegetation that thrives here is halophile. The fields are nesting grounds and winter habitats of a variety of birds.