Cancajos Salt Pans

The wind pumps that lifted seawater into the salt pans

You can visit a working salt factory on the southern tip of La Palma, but if you're staying in Cancajos, in Breña Baja, it's worth taking a peak at the ruined salt factory.

The sea front promenade runs south from the main beach along the top of a low cliff, and it's a very pleasant walk. It's smooth and flat enough for push chairs.

A couple of stone towers stand towards the southern end of the promenade. The one nearer the path looks as though it might have been a castle, or a watch-tower for whatever was behind the long stone wall on the landward side.

Actually, it's a salt factory.


The tower nearest the sea used to have a windmill on top. This lifted the water up into the channel so that it ran to the tank in the second tower, and a second wind pump sent it further inland to the building on the other side of the modern path. There, it was poured
into shallow pools, where the sun evaporated the water, leaving salt.

The factory was built in the early 19th century, but I haven't been able to find out when it stopped working. If anybody finds out, please let me know.

The shallow pans for drying out the sea water

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The Salt of the Earth

Well actually, it's the salt of the sea. Almost all salt on La Palma is sea salt, made at the southernmost tip of the island. You can visit the saltpans by taking a number 31 bus from the centre of Los Canarios to the lighthouse (Faro in Spanish). There's a bus every two hours for most of the day.


It's a simple process. The salt water is pumped into shallow ponds and left to dry in the sun. As the water evaporates, the salt starts to crystallise out on the bottom, and the workers scrape it into piles to drain and dry in the sun.

When it's mostly dry, it's brought into the shed for a final dry with warm air. From close to, you can here the machinery groaning away as though it's got indigestion.


Finally, it's put into packets. You can buy coarse salt (sal gorda or gruesa) for cooking or fine salt (sal fina) for the table. Being sea-salt it has more potassium, magnesium, calcium and iodine, and less sodium.




While you're there, it's worth looking at the Interpretation Centre for the marine reserve, which is in the older lighthouse. They have an audio-visual presentation available in several languages, including English. And it's the only such place I've seen with a memorable floor.

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