Salt Valley of Añana
Encyclopedia
The Salt Valley of Añana (, Basque Country
, Spain
) is one of the most spectacular and best preserved inland saltworks. Its value not only lies in its particular architecture or on its almost 1200 years of documented history, or even in its geological features, biodiversity or landscape values, but in the union in perfect harmony of all of it in a privileged context.
The awareness by both government and society of the importance of the Valley has led to the heritage and environmental protection of the saltworks. They have been protected on the Spanish heritage register since 1984 and are classed as a Bien de Interés Cultural
; as a cultural landscape
the Valley is a candidate World Heritage Site
, and in 2002 it was listed under the Ramsar Convention
as a wetland site of international importance.
The main spring is called Santa Engracia and its importance lies in the fact that it provides over half of the total amount of salt water emanating from the salt works. Moreover, it has the added advantage of the fact that, being situated at the highest point of the valley bottom, its brine reaches practically the entire production complex naturally. This spring is very close to the source of the Muera River and its current appearance has little to do with that throughout much of history, given that a flood devastated the area at the end of the 18th century and restoration work carried out in the 1980s disfigured it. Until this work was carried out, it consisted of a rectangular exposed hollow in the ground whose walls had been reinforced by wooden frames. The surplus water is collected from another smaller outlet located just a few metres away from it.
The external appearance of the other saline springs (La Hontana, El Pico and Fuentearriba) is similar to the traditional appearance of Santa Engracia. They are rectangular, uneven open hollows in the ground whose sides and bottom are finished off with clay in order to make them watertight. The first two supply brine to the same channels as the main spring. However, the Fuentearriba one only supplies salt water to a specific area of the Salt Valley which has historically been privately-owned and been run independently.
Transportation was continuous and by gravity via a series of channels known as royos. Although many of them were simply ditches dug out of the ground, they were replaced by wooden logs – generally pine – following the major remodelling work carried out on the valley at the beginning of the 19th century. These logs were worked with adzes until they took on the right shape of open channels. By laying piping beyond the latter longitudinally and fitting them using rabbets in the wood, the salt makers created a very effective piping system.
The main distribution system – of over three kilometres in length - starts its journey at the Santa Engracia spring in a single channel which is divided in two in a tank known as a partidero; on the eastern side flows the Royo de Suso and on the western side that of Quintana. Twelve parts of the brine which emerges from the spring flow along the former and thirteen from the latter. A short distance from the partidero, in what is known as the celemín or distributor, it is once again divided in two. The one supplying the eastern side of the valley arrives as three-fifths salt water and continues to be known as “Quintana” and the one originating from the central area is known as the Medio or Meadero and transports the remaining two-fifths.
The variety of places through which the channels need to be propped up by the supports is diverse. Some sections rest directly on the salt pans or above the land itself. Notwithstanding, the most customary support consists of placing straight wooden feet below the channel, the height of which enables the height required for the brine to flow by gravity to be controlled. In some cases, the solutions adopted are more complex - for instance, in the Terrazos area where the salt makers built an aqueduct complex comprising wooden frames reaching eight metres in height in order for the liquid to pass through the river and thus avoid the major drop on the hillside, so as to supply the Santa Ana area.
The morphology of the wells is varied, but broadly speaking may be divided into four types: those in the open-air (), hollow-type (), heater-type () and vat-type ():
The groups of eras worked by the same owner are known as granjas (farms). These gradually adapt to the complex topography of the place, both in shape and in height, giving rise to complicated figures that take up most of the Salt Valley.
The shapes and sizes of the 769 existing terraces are conditioned by their location.
To obtain platforms with a horizontal surface in a valley like that of Añana, characterized by its steep hillsides, the technique normally used has been to create terraces held up by masonry walls (over 2,000 of these have been documented), on which wooden frames are supported.
Generally speaking, the linear structures consist of a horizontal frame which supports the walls and which, in turn, acts as a support for another vertical one with straight feet. As far as the levelled production surfaces are concerned, these are created using another frame made of straps and boards, which is made watertight using a thick layer of clay.
The is one of the last stages in the salt production cycle. It involves putting the salt in sacks, which would be carried on the shoulder both by men and women to the stores, to the main roads or to the Muera River. In the case of the last-mentioned, they were loaded on beasts of burden or, by the 20th century, on tractors, which carried the salt produced to its destinations. Once there, the salt was measured by three men – (the measurer), (the cutter) and (the admiral), who was in charge of the accounts – in order to be able to pay the salt makers.
The salt making period varies annually according to climatic conditions. It generally starts in May and ends in October, although the most productive period would be between June and September, as from September onwards the long nights would delay the evaporation process and the continuous rain would spoil the scarce salt that could be obtained.
The salt manufacturing process involves several steps. It starts with the (filling) of the salt pans with an amount of liquid ranging from between two and four centimetres (around two inches). According to the report on the salt pans drafted by A. Herrán in 1883, the brine tended to take an average of around sixty hours to settle when the thermometer recorded twenty-five degrees in the shade; if the temperature rose by between three and four degrees, this speeded up the process by around ten hours, but if the heat dropped to sixteen or seventeen, no results were obtained until three or four full days had elapsed.
When the sun and the wind start to make the water evaporate, crystals are formed on the surface – known as salt flowers – which increase in size as they join together. Once their weight exceeds the surface pressure of the water, they fall to the bottom, and the end product is then known as Mineral Salt. The Chuzos of Añana are thin stalactites that are formed naturally in those areas of the salt valley where the brine flows in height. What in the past was considered a construction error, since it is an undesirable seepage of salt water, has now become an appreciated object of desire.
Its value is that it is a scarce and unique product of very high quality that is collected manually one by one under the wooden structures of this unusual cultural landscape.
During this cycle, the brine needs to be stirred once it starts to settle. In this way, uniform crystallization is obtained and the product is prevented from adhering to the surface of the salt pans or . Once the salt has crystallized but before the water totally evaporates, it is then collected. This operation is carried out with the help of a roller, with which the salt is dragged from the side of the pan towards the centre, thus giving rise to a small pile of salt. Once there, it is tipped into baskets, the grooves of which make it easy for the salt to be drained before being stored. This process, which each salt maker would carry out in his granja, would be known as •entrar la sal” (lit.“entering the salt”) and consists of inserting it in the terrazos via small hollows or sluices on the surfaces of the salt pans.
We believe that the phrase that best reflects the philosophy of the works performed for the Master Plan is "Knowing to restore, restore to persist". Keep in mind that the image offered by the Salt Valley today is the result of a complex evolutionary process, both political and economical, as well as social, which began when the first prehistoric man used the brine on the springs to make salt and finished when it went out of production and the salterns were left. In order to recover Añana is necessary to understand this process, that way we'll recover from oblivion all the empirical knowledge developed over millennia by the salt workers and avoid making mistakes during the future work. Consequently, the methodological procedure of the Master Plan has been based on three related pillars. The first is 'Document', the second 'Analyze' and the third 'Propose'.
What is special about the Salt Valley of Añana to carry out a comprehensive recovery? The answer is easy and we need not resort to unfounded old platitudes like that we are facing the largest exploitation in Europe, or the oldest or most productive. Its importance lies not only in its stunning architecture, historical and archaeological interest, landscape or environmental value, its geology or the particular biotope, but in the sum of all of them and that it happened in a privileged context.
Also, do not forget that the town of Añana is much more than its saltworks, because it's not only the natural entry point to Valdegovía, it also counts among its assets with a medieval wall which is being recovered; with ironworks, forges and furnaces in perfect condition; with fortified gates; with a church, several chapels and the last active monastery on the peninsula that belonged to the Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem; several baroque palatial buildings and even still maintains near the town a major source of animal tracks and perfectly preserved vegetation from about 22 million years ago. Therefore, Salinas de Añana becomes undoubtedly one of the most relevant architectural, landscape and archaeological collection of our community.
Works done by a large multidisciplinary team during the four years of implementing the Master Plan has shown that the best way to get the Salt Valley reborn is to recover its activity and supplement it with innovative proposals to ensure their future maintenance.
In that sense, from the beginning we were aware that it is not feasible to restore the Valley to convert it solely into a salt factory, but that that activity must be reconciled with others of different nature which would operate symbiotically to make good use of the values of the saltern and its environment (archaeological, environmental, scenic, geological, etc.) to regenerate each other.
One of the main activities proposed as an engine of the revival of the valley is the production of high quality salt. Relying on the opinion of the best restaurateurs, which today are best qualified to appreciate the qualities of traditional salt, it can be achieved that the whole population values the gastronomical quality of our salt, placing it the market, in its rightful place.
As discussed, the restoration proposed by the Master Plan also incorporates other elements and activities to help the value enhancement strategy of Añana and at the same time, co-fund the restoration work in its factory salt.
First, using the acoustic conditions of the Salt Valley and its spectacular scenery, diverse shows will be developed that'll have the salinas as the amphitheater.
A large number of threshing pits will be restored with a landscaping criteria. They will have a layer of boulders placed directly on the plank of wood so that it avoids the overhead of the woodwork and facilitates the watering with brine. This will reduce maintenance to a minimum and prolong its lifespan.
The interest that has appeared in the people the restoration of one of the most relevant heritage sites, forces us to see the restoration work as if it was a permanent exhibition. Thus, among the main objectives is to reconcile recovery work, study and production of salt in the restored areas with tourist visits. That way we get the specialists themselves spreading the acquired knowledge and people can understand and follow step by step the development of the intervention.
Another type of activity that has been very successful is the installation of a “Spa Salino”. Its construction was, in a way, a request of the locals and from which visitors can benefit. Our aim is that the salt workers no longer remember the negative aspects of the salinas and remember the therapeutic properties of controlled contact with salt water.
ism.
Roughly speaking, it means that the current place of the saltern was covered by a big ocean more than 200 million years ago that dried up, leaving a layer of salt several kilometres thick. With time, this layer was covered by new stratum that hid it definitely.
Because of the different densities between layers (similar to what happens when we mix water with oil), in some very specific points of our territory the salt emerged to the surface. And those are the places where we can find the internal salterns.
But how to carry out the exploitation of these seams? The answer is simple: either by mining techniques, or taking advantage of the sources of salt water (brine) that are created after the passage of fresh water through layers of solid salt.
The saltworks of Añana belong to the last group and have the luck to count with several springs that provide around 260,000 litres of brine daily with a concentration near to saturation point.
The importance of the Salt Valley lies in the fact that, due to the importance of salt throughout history and the maintaining of continued activity in the same place, it contains much documentary and archaeological information.
The origins of salt making are, according to what we currently know, difficult to pinpoint, because the only source of information we have available to us is archaeology. So far, only prospecting has been carried out in the course of which materials have been collected – mainly pottery – which has helped to locate possible archaeological sites and provide them with a chronological fork.
The information which these operations have supplied provide us with a habitat sequence that commences at both ends of the valley – on the banks of the Muera River – where several sites dated during the Bronze Aenolithic are located. This would have its continuation in a large Iron Age site located in the municipality of Isilla, followed by several settlements – now in Roman times – located in the lower part of the valley, in the vicinity of the towns of Espejo and Tuesta.
The link between these settlements located around the Salt Valley and the communication routes dating from Roman times would seem to be beyond dispute. Just a few kilometres away passed a branch of the Via XXXIV that linked Astorga with Bordeaux. Via the Omecillo River, it linked Deobriga – identified according to the latest archaeological studies with Arce/Mirapérez (Miranda de Ebro) - with Flaviobriga, located in Castro Urdiales.
It is possible to consider the following evolutionary hypothesis: the exploitation of the emergence of brine may have commenced in prehistoric times, continued during the Roman era in inhabited places in the vicinity – with the great Roman site located in Espejo known as ("the chapels") perhaps referring to the Roman Salionca mentioned by Ptolemy – persisted during the Late Antiquity and, with the first written mention of its existence dating from 18 November of the year 822, its importance is confirmed.
Salinas de Añana did not really exist as a town until the mid-12th century. Documentary allusions prior to this chronology always refer to a salt works which was located in a valley known as Añana (in 1081, it was referred to as in loco Salinarum de Aniana), in whose environs were situated a series of hamlets – at least since the year 945 (Fontes, Villacones, Villanueva, Terrazos, Orbón and Santa María), where individuals lived who worked the granjas (farms) making salt. This network of settlements is what the town of Salinas emerged from, following a long and complicated process in which numerous factors placed a part (regarding space, population, political, administrative and productive factors, etc.).
The granting by Alfonso I the Battler (1104–1134) of the first fuero
(special charter) in the current territory making up the Basque Autonomous Region established the foundations of the monarchs’ power and compelled the lay and ecclesiastical aristocracy to withdraw and change their policy of action in the valley. After that time, the focus turned to trying, by royal favour, to fully maintain its patrimony and gain the privileges that would facilitate the free transport and trade of its production
Confirmation of the Royal Charter signed by Alfonso VII in 1140 is believed to have been part of the economic project this king had to monopolize a resource which provided him with a major source of income, and which led him to regulate it legally by means of the Najera legislation of 1137.
In the text of the charter, special interest shown by the King may be noted not only in encouraging its economic development, but also in gaining control of the salt works and the salt makers. To this end, he attempted to concentrate the population in a single town – hitherto difficult to control as the inhabitants lived in small scattered settlements located around the valley – by granting them privileges such as exemption from payment of the toll being levied for transporting the salt, the free use of mountains, meadowland and water, and the chance to hold a weekly market. This concentration of the population in a town owned by the Crown came into direct conflict with the interests of the monasteries, who enjoyed the greatest presence in the valley (San Salvador de Oña, San Millán de la Cogolla and Santo Domingo), whereby the King, to prevent any confrontation, granted all the inhabitants the aforementioned privileges and, at the same time, respected the legal system of their place of origin, whether owned by the Crown or abbatial.
A clear example of the periods of power vacuum which directly affected Salinas de Añana was the loss of its status as being owned by the Crown in 1308, when it became part of the domain of the manor of the Huelgas monastery in Burgos. This concession, which transformed the town partly into an ecclesiastical manor, was granted by Ferdinand IV
via the Infanta Doña Blanca of Portugal, the Lady of las Huelgas, and later confirmed by Alfonso XI of Castile
via his sister the Infanta Doña Leonor. Years later, the manor was handed over to Doña Blanca, daughter of the Infante Pedro, to whom Alfonso XI himself transferred the town in 1350. It then became part of the royal patrimony. The situation changed again under Henry II, who definitively granted the Manor of Añana to the lineage of the Sarmiento family, henceforth entitled the Counts of Salinas.
The town, like the rest of the territory, suffered greatly from the tensions and disputes that were widespread among the nobility in the area during the Late Middle Ages. In the documentation preserved from this period, it can be clearly traced back to the 13th century, this being the situation which drove the Town Council of Añana to form part of the Brotherhood of Castile that was founded in 1295, subsequently belonging to the General Brotherhood of all the kingdoms and finally forming part of the Brotherhood of Alava in 1460.
As far as mercantile activity is concerned, special mention should be made of the continued conflict between the different salt works in Castile for control of the exclusive areas of sale. In this conflict of interests, Añana became favoured on numerous occasions, as is demonstrated by the fact that Sancho IV confirmed the monopoly on the sale of salt over a wide territory under the jurisdiction of the Town Council of Salinas.
The exclusive trading privileges enjoyed by the town were cancelled by Philip II in 1564 when all the Kingdom’s salt factories passed into the hands of the Crown, with the Poza de la Sal salt works in Burgos, among others, being favoured by the change in the situation. Notwithstanding, this situation was ephemeral, as the repeated protests raised against the King by the Community of Heirs/Knights of the Reales Salinas de Añana favoured an agreement with the Royal Treasury, whereby 30,000 fanegas (grain measure = 1.58 bushels) of salt would be purchased annually. This agreement, which financially benefited all the parties involved, nonetheless signalled the onset of the continuous decline of the productive structures in the valley. Following its signing, the community of owners tried to gain maximum financial yield from their salt works with the minimum effort, to the extent that they set about producing the amount of salt duly agreed upon and investing the least amount of money possible in the upkeep of the valley.
The state of deterioration evidenced by the salt works meant that the Crown had to intervene in 1594 – the year when an offer was made to increase the price paid for the salt in exchange for the private owners undertaking to repair their granjas. The community’s response was to accept the rise in price, but to delay repair work until the Treasury desisted from its efforts.
The excellent qualities of the salt obtained after the valley was remodelled encouraged the Community of Heirs of the salt works to exhibit their product in the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851, where they were awarded with an honorary mention and a Bronze medal.
Lastly, mention should be made, as part of the important events in the history of Añana, of the repercussions of the overthrowing of Isabella II in 1868 and the liberal Constitution of 1869, as it was in that same year when the Mines Act was passed which put an end to the salt monopoly that the Crown had imposed for over three centuries.
The main consequences of the new law were, on the one hand, the ripping up of the convenient contract of sale of 30,000 fanegas which the Alava salt makers maintained with the Treasury and, on the other, the liberalization of the sector, both in terms of the area of production and its commercialization.
The 20th century has been the most variable in the valley’s history in all respects. The first half was characterized by being a period of maximum splendour, with up to 5,648 salt pans being worked, whereas the second half was defined by being the phase in which production was abandoned.
The decline in salt making activity was due, among other factors, to the introduction of improvements in the production of coastal salt works, with production being started at numerous sites containing rock salt, and the laying of railway lines. The latter would reduce the cost of transport and therefore the final price of the salt.
The new situation led to the population of Añana leaving the town for industrial areas and the subsequent lack of upkeep of the Salt Valley, whose structures – in need of continuous maintenance – quickly started to fall into disrepair.
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) is one of the most spectacular and best preserved inland saltworks. Its value not only lies in its particular architecture or on its almost 1200 years of documented history, or even in its geological features, biodiversity or landscape values, but in the union in perfect harmony of all of it in a privileged context.
The awareness by both government and society of the importance of the Valley has led to the heritage and environmental protection of the saltworks. They have been protected on the Spanish heritage register since 1984 and are classed as a Bien de Interés Cultural
Bien de Interés Cultural
A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the Spanish heritage register. This category dates from 1985 when it replaced the former heritage category of Monumento nacional in order to extend protection to a wider range of cultural property...
; as a cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
the Valley is a candidate World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, and in 2002 it was listed under the Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
as a wetland site of international importance.
The productive framework
The valley is made up mainly of springs, channels, wells, salt pans and stores. These structures have not remained unchanged over time, but rather have been transformed in order to increase their productivity – thanks to the empirical knowledge developed over generations by the salt makers themselves.Springs
Springs are upwellings that bring brine to the surface level in a natural and continuous way, which allows its use without need for drilling or pumping. There are a number of them in the Salt Valley and its surroundings, but only four of them (Santa Engracia, La Hontana, El Pico and Fuentearriba) are usable, because its flow is permanent (about 3 litres per second) and salinity is near saturation point (210 grams per litre).The main spring is called Santa Engracia and its importance lies in the fact that it provides over half of the total amount of salt water emanating from the salt works. Moreover, it has the added advantage of the fact that, being situated at the highest point of the valley bottom, its brine reaches practically the entire production complex naturally. This spring is very close to the source of the Muera River and its current appearance has little to do with that throughout much of history, given that a flood devastated the area at the end of the 18th century and restoration work carried out in the 1980s disfigured it. Until this work was carried out, it consisted of a rectangular exposed hollow in the ground whose walls had been reinforced by wooden frames. The surplus water is collected from another smaller outlet located just a few metres away from it.
The external appearance of the other saline springs (La Hontana, El Pico and Fuentearriba) is similar to the traditional appearance of Santa Engracia. They are rectangular, uneven open hollows in the ground whose sides and bottom are finished off with clay in order to make them watertight. The first two supply brine to the same channels as the main spring. However, the Fuentearriba one only supplies salt water to a specific area of the Salt Valley which has historically been privately-owned and been run independently.
Channels
Piping the brine to all the corners of the salt works is determined by the location of the springs at the highest part of the Salt Valley, the location of the liquid storage tanks, the size of the evaporation surfaces and the salt production process itself.Transportation was continuous and by gravity via a series of channels known as royos. Although many of them were simply ditches dug out of the ground, they were replaced by wooden logs – generally pine – following the major remodelling work carried out on the valley at the beginning of the 19th century. These logs were worked with adzes until they took on the right shape of open channels. By laying piping beyond the latter longitudinally and fitting them using rabbets in the wood, the salt makers created a very effective piping system.
The main distribution system – of over three kilometres in length - starts its journey at the Santa Engracia spring in a single channel which is divided in two in a tank known as a partidero; on the eastern side flows the Royo de Suso and on the western side that of Quintana. Twelve parts of the brine which emerges from the spring flow along the former and thirteen from the latter. A short distance from the partidero, in what is known as the celemín or distributor, it is once again divided in two. The one supplying the eastern side of the valley arrives as three-fifths salt water and continues to be known as “Quintana” and the one originating from the central area is known as the Medio or Meadero and transports the remaining two-fifths.
The variety of places through which the channels need to be propped up by the supports is diverse. Some sections rest directly on the salt pans or above the land itself. Notwithstanding, the most customary support consists of placing straight wooden feet below the channel, the height of which enables the height required for the brine to flow by gravity to be controlled. In some cases, the solutions adopted are more complex - for instance, in the Terrazos area where the salt makers built an aqueduct complex comprising wooden frames reaching eight metres in height in order for the liquid to pass through the river and thus avoid the major drop on the hillside, so as to supply the Santa Ana area.
Wells
The storage tanks constitute the heart of the properties and their filling the reason for most of the disputes among the salt makers. This is due to the limited amount of salt water emanating from the springs, the great number of salt pans and the concentration of production work during certain months of the year. All this explains the large number of wells existing at the salt works (currently 848) and the need for complex regulation of brine distribution – also known as the master book – based on original rights of ownership acquired by their owners.The morphology of the wells is varied, but broadly speaking may be divided into four types: those in the open-air (), hollow-type (), heater-type () and vat-type ():
- The open-air wells can be dug out of the ground or raised above it. Generally speaking, they are structures built using masonry and clay or wooden frames, in which case they are often prismatic in shape.
- Hollow-type wells are characterized by being covered by the platforms. Their construction is very complex and in most cases, they are former open-air wells that have been covered to protect the brine while at the same time taking advantage of the upper space available for salt production.
- The heater-types are small structures generally made of wood or brick. They are used to pre-heat the liquid before it is poured into the salt pan, in this way speeding up the crystallization process.
- Another type of well which is characteristic of the higher areas on the sides of the valley are those known as “encube.” The specific nature that defines them is that the brine does not reach them naturally, whereby they need to be filled manually.
Salt pans
Obtaining salt in Añana is based on the evaporation of water contained in the brine by natural means. To this end, the brine is poured onto horizontal surfaces known as balsas or eras (salt pools or pans), the surface area of which varies from between twelve and twenty square metres.The groups of eras worked by the same owner are known as granjas (farms). These gradually adapt to the complex topography of the place, both in shape and in height, giving rise to complicated figures that take up most of the Salt Valley.
The shapes and sizes of the 769 existing terraces are conditioned by their location.
To obtain platforms with a horizontal surface in a valley like that of Añana, characterized by its steep hillsides, the technique normally used has been to create terraces held up by masonry walls (over 2,000 of these have been documented), on which wooden frames are supported.
Generally speaking, the linear structures consist of a horizontal frame which supports the walls and which, in turn, acts as a support for another vertical one with straight feet. As far as the levelled production surfaces are concerned, these are created using another frame made of straps and boards, which is made watertight using a thick layer of clay.
Salt stores
The buildings set aside for storing the salt in Añana may be divided into two types: public and private ones.- There have traditionally existed four public constructions which were controlled and maintained during the period of the salt monopoly (between 1564 and 1869) by the Royal Administration. During this period, they were known as , and or and . Their function was that of receiving the production as a whole at the end of each season and also to store the surplus or which was not unable to be sold. In total, they were able to store around 110,113 fanegas of salt of 112 pounds in weight (approximately 5,681,830 kg).
- In addition the private stores, also referred to in documentation as , were privately owned by harvesters, who were even able to have more than one in their granja. These types of structure are mainly situated beneath the salt pans, taking advantage of the hollows existing between the walls of the terraces and the evaporation platforms. This building technique facilitates its filling to a great extent, as the salt is simply poured into small open hollows on the surface of the salt plans known as . Their main function is to store the salt until such time as it is transported to the public stores located outside the salt works.
The is one of the last stages in the salt production cycle. It involves putting the salt in sacks, which would be carried on the shoulder both by men and women to the stores, to the main roads or to the Muera River. In the case of the last-mentioned, they were loaded on beasts of burden or, by the 20th century, on tractors, which carried the salt produced to its destinations. Once there, the salt was measured by three men – (the measurer), (the cutter) and (the admiral), who was in charge of the accounts – in order to be able to pay the salt makers.
Production method
In its heyday, there were over five thousand evaporation platforms in the valley which, in total, occupied a surface area of 95,233 square metres.The salt making period varies annually according to climatic conditions. It generally starts in May and ends in October, although the most productive period would be between June and September, as from September onwards the long nights would delay the evaporation process and the continuous rain would spoil the scarce salt that could be obtained.
The salt manufacturing process involves several steps. It starts with the (filling) of the salt pans with an amount of liquid ranging from between two and four centimetres (around two inches). According to the report on the salt pans drafted by A. Herrán in 1883, the brine tended to take an average of around sixty hours to settle when the thermometer recorded twenty-five degrees in the shade; if the temperature rose by between three and four degrees, this speeded up the process by around ten hours, but if the heat dropped to sixteen or seventeen, no results were obtained until three or four full days had elapsed.
When the sun and the wind start to make the water evaporate, crystals are formed on the surface – known as salt flowers – which increase in size as they join together. Once their weight exceeds the surface pressure of the water, they fall to the bottom, and the end product is then known as Mineral Salt. The Chuzos of Añana are thin stalactites that are formed naturally in those areas of the salt valley where the brine flows in height. What in the past was considered a construction error, since it is an undesirable seepage of salt water, has now become an appreciated object of desire.
Its value is that it is a scarce and unique product of very high quality that is collected manually one by one under the wooden structures of this unusual cultural landscape.
During this cycle, the brine needs to be stirred once it starts to settle. In this way, uniform crystallization is obtained and the product is prevented from adhering to the surface of the salt pans or . Once the salt has crystallized but before the water totally evaporates, it is then collected. This operation is carried out with the help of a roller, with which the salt is dragged from the side of the pan towards the centre, thus giving rise to a small pile of salt. Once there, it is tipped into baskets, the grooves of which make it easy for the salt to be drained before being stored. This process, which each salt maker would carry out in his granja, would be known as •entrar la sal” (lit.“entering the salt”) and consists of inserting it in the terrazos via small hollows or sluices on the surfaces of the salt pans.
The restoration of Salt Valley
By 1960 there were 5.648 threshing pits working in the Salt Valley. By 1984 their number had fallen to 2.338 and by 2000 only 42 remained in operation. This rapid rate of degradation, in which almost 93.3% of the platforms disappeared in just 40 years, led to the Provincial Council of Álava to foster the recovery of the whole. To this end, it launched a Master Plan whose main objective was to diagnose the problems that were causing the ruin of the valley and to indicate how and the most appropriate way to rescue it from the oblivion to which it was subjected during the last forty years; to preserve, to maintain, to take care, to use, to teach and through its use, to ensure its survival for future generations.We believe that the phrase that best reflects the philosophy of the works performed for the Master Plan is "Knowing to restore, restore to persist". Keep in mind that the image offered by the Salt Valley today is the result of a complex evolutionary process, both political and economical, as well as social, which began when the first prehistoric man used the brine on the springs to make salt and finished when it went out of production and the salterns were left. In order to recover Añana is necessary to understand this process, that way we'll recover from oblivion all the empirical knowledge developed over millennia by the salt workers and avoid making mistakes during the future work. Consequently, the methodological procedure of the Master Plan has been based on three related pillars. The first is 'Document', the second 'Analyze' and the third 'Propose'.
What is special about the Salt Valley of Añana to carry out a comprehensive recovery? The answer is easy and we need not resort to unfounded old platitudes like that we are facing the largest exploitation in Europe, or the oldest or most productive. Its importance lies not only in its stunning architecture, historical and archaeological interest, landscape or environmental value, its geology or the particular biotope, but in the sum of all of them and that it happened in a privileged context.
Also, do not forget that the town of Añana is much more than its saltworks, because it's not only the natural entry point to Valdegovía, it also counts among its assets with a medieval wall which is being recovered; with ironworks, forges and furnaces in perfect condition; with fortified gates; with a church, several chapels and the last active monastery on the peninsula that belonged to the Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem; several baroque palatial buildings and even still maintains near the town a major source of animal tracks and perfectly preserved vegetation from about 22 million years ago. Therefore, Salinas de Añana becomes undoubtedly one of the most relevant architectural, landscape and archaeological collection of our community.
Works done by a large multidisciplinary team during the four years of implementing the Master Plan has shown that the best way to get the Salt Valley reborn is to recover its activity and supplement it with innovative proposals to ensure their future maintenance.
In that sense, from the beginning we were aware that it is not feasible to restore the Valley to convert it solely into a salt factory, but that that activity must be reconciled with others of different nature which would operate symbiotically to make good use of the values of the saltern and its environment (archaeological, environmental, scenic, geological, etc.) to regenerate each other.
One of the main activities proposed as an engine of the revival of the valley is the production of high quality salt. Relying on the opinion of the best restaurateurs, which today are best qualified to appreciate the qualities of traditional salt, it can be achieved that the whole population values the gastronomical quality of our salt, placing it the market, in its rightful place.
As discussed, the restoration proposed by the Master Plan also incorporates other elements and activities to help the value enhancement strategy of Añana and at the same time, co-fund the restoration work in its factory salt.
First, using the acoustic conditions of the Salt Valley and its spectacular scenery, diverse shows will be developed that'll have the salinas as the amphitheater.
A large number of threshing pits will be restored with a landscaping criteria. They will have a layer of boulders placed directly on the plank of wood so that it avoids the overhead of the woodwork and facilitates the watering with brine. This will reduce maintenance to a minimum and prolong its lifespan.
The interest that has appeared in the people the restoration of one of the most relevant heritage sites, forces us to see the restoration work as if it was a permanent exhibition. Thus, among the main objectives is to reconcile recovery work, study and production of salt in the restored areas with tourist visits. That way we get the specialists themselves spreading the acquired knowledge and people can understand and follow step by step the development of the intervention.
Another type of activity that has been very successful is the installation of a “Spa Salino”. Its construction was, in a way, a request of the locals and from which visitors can benefit. Our aim is that the salt workers no longer remember the negative aspects of the salinas and remember the therapeutic properties of controlled contact with salt water.
The salt
The first thing that people ask themselves when they first set foot on the Salt Valley of Añana is: Why is salt produced here and not someplace else? The answer is not straightforward, and it's necessary to refer to a geological phenomenon known as diapirDiapir
A diapir is a type of intrusion in which a more mobile and ductily-deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh-Taylor instability-type structures in regions with low tectonic stress...
ism.
Roughly speaking, it means that the current place of the saltern was covered by a big ocean more than 200 million years ago that dried up, leaving a layer of salt several kilometres thick. With time, this layer was covered by new stratum that hid it definitely.
Because of the different densities between layers (similar to what happens when we mix water with oil), in some very specific points of our territory the salt emerged to the surface. And those are the places where we can find the internal salterns.
But how to carry out the exploitation of these seams? The answer is simple: either by mining techniques, or taking advantage of the sources of salt water (brine) that are created after the passage of fresh water through layers of solid salt.
The saltworks of Añana belong to the last group and have the luck to count with several springs that provide around 260,000 litres of brine daily with a concentration near to saturation point.
The first traces of settlements
Summarizing the evolution throughout history of the valley known as Añana, as it is referred to in a document dating from the year 942, is a task that will always be partial or incomplete. This is because we are referring to one of the key sites in our understanding of history, not only of the salt making area and its town bearing the same name, but also because of the formation and evolution of the historic territories of which it has formed a part throughout time.The importance of the Salt Valley lies in the fact that, due to the importance of salt throughout history and the maintaining of continued activity in the same place, it contains much documentary and archaeological information.
The origins of salt making are, according to what we currently know, difficult to pinpoint, because the only source of information we have available to us is archaeology. So far, only prospecting has been carried out in the course of which materials have been collected – mainly pottery – which has helped to locate possible archaeological sites and provide them with a chronological fork.
The information which these operations have supplied provide us with a habitat sequence that commences at both ends of the valley – on the banks of the Muera River – where several sites dated during the Bronze Aenolithic are located. This would have its continuation in a large Iron Age site located in the municipality of Isilla, followed by several settlements – now in Roman times – located in the lower part of the valley, in the vicinity of the towns of Espejo and Tuesta.
The link between these settlements located around the Salt Valley and the communication routes dating from Roman times would seem to be beyond dispute. Just a few kilometres away passed a branch of the Via XXXIV that linked Astorga with Bordeaux. Via the Omecillo River, it linked Deobriga – identified according to the latest archaeological studies with Arce/Mirapérez (Miranda de Ebro) - with Flaviobriga, located in Castro Urdiales.
It is possible to consider the following evolutionary hypothesis: the exploitation of the emergence of brine may have commenced in prehistoric times, continued during the Roman era in inhabited places in the vicinity – with the great Roman site located in Espejo known as ("the chapels") perhaps referring to the Roman Salionca mentioned by Ptolemy – persisted during the Late Antiquity and, with the first written mention of its existence dating from 18 November of the year 822, its importance is confirmed.
The Birth of Salinas de Añana
The documentary christening of Añana marks an inflection point in our knowledge of the history of the valley. The growing need for salt in an emerging economy meant that the institutions and elite that held power during the 10th century - albeit mainly during the 11th and 12th centuries – were interested not only in gaining possession of the raw material, but also in the productive areas and the salt makers who worked there.Salinas de Añana did not really exist as a town until the mid-12th century. Documentary allusions prior to this chronology always refer to a salt works which was located in a valley known as Añana (in 1081, it was referred to as in loco Salinarum de Aniana), in whose environs were situated a series of hamlets – at least since the year 945 (Fontes, Villacones, Villanueva, Terrazos, Orbón and Santa María), where individuals lived who worked the granjas (farms) making salt. This network of settlements is what the town of Salinas emerged from, following a long and complicated process in which numerous factors placed a part (regarding space, population, political, administrative and productive factors, etc.).
The granting by Alfonso I the Battler (1104–1134) of the first fuero
Fuero
Fuero , Furs , Foro and Foru is a Spanish legal term and concept.The word comes from Latin forum, an open space used as market, tribunal and meeting place...
(special charter) in the current territory making up the Basque Autonomous Region established the foundations of the monarchs’ power and compelled the lay and ecclesiastical aristocracy to withdraw and change their policy of action in the valley. After that time, the focus turned to trying, by royal favour, to fully maintain its patrimony and gain the privileges that would facilitate the free transport and trade of its production
Confirmation of the Royal Charter signed by Alfonso VII in 1140 is believed to have been part of the economic project this king had to monopolize a resource which provided him with a major source of income, and which led him to regulate it legally by means of the Najera legislation of 1137.
In the text of the charter, special interest shown by the King may be noted not only in encouraging its economic development, but also in gaining control of the salt works and the salt makers. To this end, he attempted to concentrate the population in a single town – hitherto difficult to control as the inhabitants lived in small scattered settlements located around the valley – by granting them privileges such as exemption from payment of the toll being levied for transporting the salt, the free use of mountains, meadowland and water, and the chance to hold a weekly market. This concentration of the population in a town owned by the Crown came into direct conflict with the interests of the monasteries, who enjoyed the greatest presence in the valley (San Salvador de Oña, San Millán de la Cogolla and Santo Domingo), whereby the King, to prevent any confrontation, granted all the inhabitants the aforementioned privileges and, at the same time, respected the legal system of their place of origin, whether owned by the Crown or abbatial.
The development of salt mining
The political strategy would appear to have borne fruit, and both productive and mercantile activity intensified. Notwithstanding, progress was affected periodically, as this depended to a large extent on the firmness of the power of the Monarch on the throne at the time. If the command evidenced weakness, the aristocracy would take advantage of the situation to impose their will, even violently, in order to obtain maximum profitability.A clear example of the periods of power vacuum which directly affected Salinas de Añana was the loss of its status as being owned by the Crown in 1308, when it became part of the domain of the manor of the Huelgas monastery in Burgos. This concession, which transformed the town partly into an ecclesiastical manor, was granted by Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand IV of Castile
Ferdinand IV, El Emplazado or "the Summoned," was a king of Castile and León and Galicia...
via the Infanta Doña Blanca of Portugal, the Lady of las Huelgas, and later confirmed by Alfonso XI of Castile
Alfonso XI of Castile
Alfonso XI was the king of Castile, León and Galicia.He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes ensued over who would hold regency, which were resolved in 1313...
via his sister the Infanta Doña Leonor. Years later, the manor was handed over to Doña Blanca, daughter of the Infante Pedro, to whom Alfonso XI himself transferred the town in 1350. It then became part of the royal patrimony. The situation changed again under Henry II, who definitively granted the Manor of Añana to the lineage of the Sarmiento family, henceforth entitled the Counts of Salinas.
The town, like the rest of the territory, suffered greatly from the tensions and disputes that were widespread among the nobility in the area during the Late Middle Ages. In the documentation preserved from this period, it can be clearly traced back to the 13th century, this being the situation which drove the Town Council of Añana to form part of the Brotherhood of Castile that was founded in 1295, subsequently belonging to the General Brotherhood of all the kingdoms and finally forming part of the Brotherhood of Alava in 1460.
As far as mercantile activity is concerned, special mention should be made of the continued conflict between the different salt works in Castile for control of the exclusive areas of sale. In this conflict of interests, Añana became favoured on numerous occasions, as is demonstrated by the fact that Sancho IV confirmed the monopoly on the sale of salt over a wide territory under the jurisdiction of the Town Council of Salinas.
The exclusive trading privileges enjoyed by the town were cancelled by Philip II in 1564 when all the Kingdom’s salt factories passed into the hands of the Crown, with the Poza de la Sal salt works in Burgos, among others, being favoured by the change in the situation. Notwithstanding, this situation was ephemeral, as the repeated protests raised against the King by the Community of Heirs/Knights of the Reales Salinas de Añana favoured an agreement with the Royal Treasury, whereby 30,000 fanegas (grain measure = 1.58 bushels) of salt would be purchased annually. This agreement, which financially benefited all the parties involved, nonetheless signalled the onset of the continuous decline of the productive structures in the valley. Following its signing, the community of owners tried to gain maximum financial yield from their salt works with the minimum effort, to the extent that they set about producing the amount of salt duly agreed upon and investing the least amount of money possible in the upkeep of the valley.
The state of deterioration evidenced by the salt works meant that the Crown had to intervene in 1594 – the year when an offer was made to increase the price paid for the salt in exchange for the private owners undertaking to repair their granjas. The community’s response was to accept the rise in price, but to delay repair work until the Treasury desisted from its efforts.
Splendor and decadence of salt activity
It was not until the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, with the Bourbon reforms of the administration of the ancien régime, that the State – aware of the productive capacity of the Salt Valley – compelled its owners to undertake the reforms and extension, at the same time imposing a series of construction criteria for the purpose of producing salt by the method known as .The excellent qualities of the salt obtained after the valley was remodelled encouraged the Community of Heirs of the salt works to exhibit their product in the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851, where they were awarded with an honorary mention and a Bronze medal.
Lastly, mention should be made, as part of the important events in the history of Añana, of the repercussions of the overthrowing of Isabella II in 1868 and the liberal Constitution of 1869, as it was in that same year when the Mines Act was passed which put an end to the salt monopoly that the Crown had imposed for over three centuries.
The main consequences of the new law were, on the one hand, the ripping up of the convenient contract of sale of 30,000 fanegas which the Alava salt makers maintained with the Treasury and, on the other, the liberalization of the sector, both in terms of the area of production and its commercialization.
The 20th century has been the most variable in the valley’s history in all respects. The first half was characterized by being a period of maximum splendour, with up to 5,648 salt pans being worked, whereas the second half was defined by being the phase in which production was abandoned.
The decline in salt making activity was due, among other factors, to the introduction of improvements in the production of coastal salt works, with production being started at numerous sites containing rock salt, and the laying of railway lines. The latter would reduce the cost of transport and therefore the final price of the salt.
The new situation led to the population of Añana leaving the town for industrial areas and the subsequent lack of upkeep of the Salt Valley, whose structures – in need of continuous maintenance – quickly started to fall into disrepair.