Salinas de Anana

At Anana, brine springs rise from a buried salt diapir, and since at least the ninth century, with archaeological evidence going back much further, the water has been led along wooden channels into thousands of shallow terraced platforms, eras, built on timber frames stacked up the valley sides, where the sun evaporates it and the salt is raked off by hand. The result is a landscape of wooden scaffolding and white pans covering the whole valley, around five thousand platforms in total. The Spanish crown took over the salt works in 1564 and ran them until 1868. Production had nearly collapsed by the 1990s; a restoration project from 2009 rebuilt the terraces and revived the salt, now sold as a premium product. Guided visits walk the channels and terraces, and spa treatments in the brine are offered.

The main sights

• The wooden terraces - thousands of evaporation platforms on timber frames.
• The brine channels - wooden conduits distributing spring water by gravity.
• The hand raking - salt gathered from the pans in the working season.
• The valley landscape - white pans stacked up both sides of the valley.

When to go

April to October, when evaporation is active and the pans are working; the salt-making season runs through the warm months. Visits are guided at set times and book out at weekends.

Good to know

Access is guided only and the terraces cannot be walked freely. The site is a working operation, so parts are closed when in use. Winter shows the structures without the salt-making.

Nearby

Vitoria-Gasteiz lies east; the Valderejo park and the Burgos border are west.