Salinas de Janubio

A lagoon shaped by lava

Volcanic eruptions created the setting for Salinas de Janubio. Lava formed a barrier between the sea and the lagoon, enclosing the water beside which the saltworks developed. The lagoon has a circumference of about 1000 metres and an average depth of about three metres. Together, the lava barrier, lagoon and salt pans explain the shape of the site: a natural enclosure adapted for salt production through an extensive system of basins and water management.

The reddish colour visible in the salt pans comes from living organisms, rather than the volcanic rock. A small red crustacean, artemia, contributes to it, as does the alga Dunaliella salina. Bacteria also add red tones, particularly when salinity is very high, while archaea inhabit the salty water too. The water is therefore more than a backdrop to the industrial structures: it supports organisms adapted to these saline conditions.

Migratory waterbirds also use the saltworks for refuge, nesting and laying eggs. The pans remain a working industrial landscape while providing habitat for wildlife.

Salt production since 1895

Construction began in 1895 under Vicente Lleó Benlliure, who passed the saltworks to his nephew before their completion in 1945. The Padrón family continues salt production today, so the pans are not simply the remains of an abandoned industry. Their architecture and hydraulic systems belong to a process that still operates.

Salt from Janubio was closely tied to fishing and the industries that depended on it. Declining fishing activity, newer preservation methods and outside competition have since caused production to fall sharply. What survives is both an active business and physical evidence of an industry that helped preserve the island's catch before newer techniques reduced demand for salt.

The site's scale distinguishes it from other saltworks on Lanzarote: none covers a greater area. Across that expanse, the salt pans and the systems controlling their water are the main built features to look at. There is no need to separate the industrial history from the landscape here. The layout of the workings, the lagoon that supplies their setting and the continuing production of salt are all parts of the same place.

Birds, colour and working water

The salty water at Janubio supports life at very different scales. Migratory waterbirds use the site as a refuge and a place to nest and lay eggs. Much smaller organisms account for the reddish tones in the pans, making the water itself one of the most distinctive things to examine during a visit.

Artemia, a small red crustacean, contributes colour alongside the alga Dunaliella salina. The bacteria H. salinarum and H. halobium also contribute, especially at very high salinity. Archaea are present in these waters too. The red is therefore biological, not simply a reflection of the surrounding volcanic landscape.

This ecological role exists alongside continuing salt production. The pans are managed industrial waters rather than an untouched lagoon, yet birds use them for shelter and breeding. Looking across the site brings these uses together: the architecture of salt-making, water whose colour reflects its microscopic inhabitants, and habitat used by migratory birds. These relationships help explain why Janubio has scientific as well as industrial and landscape interest.

The island's largest saltworks

Janubio's distinction among Lanzarote's saltworks is its extent: it is the largest on the island. The attraction is consequently spread across a working landscape rather than concentrated in a single building. Salt pans, the lagoon and the infrastructure used to manage water form the substance of the place.

Its history also separates it from an abandoned industrial ruin. Work began in 1895, continued through to completion in 1945, and salt production remains active under the Padrón family. Reduced output has not removed the site's original purpose, even though the fishing industry and demand for traditionally produced salt have changed.

For a visitor, the concrete interest lies in seeing how a volcanic coastal enclosure became an extensive salt-making system. The lava barrier explains the lagoon; the saltworks show how that setting was adapted for production. Their continued use adds another layer to the view, while the organisms in the water and the migratory birds demonstrate that industrial infrastructure and wildlife habitat can occupy the same ground.

What to look for

• Look across the largest expanse of salt pans on Lanzarote
• See the lagoon enclosed by a barrier of volcanic lava
• Look for reddish water coloured by salt-tolerant organisms
• Watch for migratory waterbirds using the saltworks as refuge
• Trace the salt-making history begun by Vicente Lleó Benlliure