Ses Salines: The Salt That Paid for Ibiza
Balearic Islands, Spain
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Ses Salines
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250
XP
+100 Spain
= 350 total
1 day
Ses Salines: The Salt That Paid for Ibiza
250 + 100 XP
Before tourism, Ibiza's economy was salt. The pans at the south end of the island have been worked since Phoenician and Carthaginian times, and for centuries salt was the island's main export and the thing that made it worth controlling. The pans are now a natural park shared with Formentera, and because a salt pan is shallow, warm and full of brine shrimp, they are one of the most important bird sites in the Mediterranean — flamingos, waders and terns in numbers, with the Posidonia meadows offshore listed by UNESCO in 1999.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Walk the dykes between the pans and work out how the water is moved from one to the next
2
of 5
Work out why the birds are here: shallow warm water, high salinity and enormous quantities of brine shrimp
3
of 5
Look for flamingos on the pans, which are reliable here in autumn and winter
4
of 5
Work out what salt meant to this island before tourism, and who fought over it
5
of 5
Snorkel over the Posidonia meadows offshore, which are the reason the site is a World Heritage listing
Walk the dykes between the pans and work out how the water is moved from one to the next
Work out why the birds are here: shallow warm water, high salinity and enormous quantities of brine shrimp
Look for flamingos on the pans, which are reliable here in autumn and winter
Work out what salt meant to this island before tourism, and who fought over it
Snorkel over the Posidonia meadows offshore, which are the reason the site is a World Heritage listing
Before you go
Flamingos are reliable on the pans in autumn and winter.
The pans are a working industrial site as well as a park — stay on the marked paths. Very little shade.
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About Balearic Islands
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
Spain country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in Spain.
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