Salinas de Janubio, the chessboard the volcano left behind

Before the eighteenth-century eruptions this was an open bay. The lava flow closed it and left a salt lagoon behind: precisely the condition needed to make salt. In the late 1800s someone noticed and began dividing it into pans.

The method has not changed. Seawater enters, moves from pan to pan evaporating in sun and wind, and the salt is raked up by hand. From above the result is a chessboard of white, pink and ochre squares that shift colour with the season and the microorganisms present.

When to go

Sunset is the moment: the sun drops directly behind the pans and sets them alight. There is a viewpoint on the LZ-2 between Yaiza and Playa Blanca, just before the El Golfo turning.

The salt flats are also a Site of Scientific Interest and an important stop for migratory birds. Salt is sold on site, and it is what you will find on restaurant tables across the island.