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A favourable environmental impact report has been issued by the regional government of Murcia to allow the salt-producing activities of Jumsal to be enlarged in the south of the municipality of Jumilla, making use of a “salt dome” which lies on the land owned by the company in order to produce all kinds of high-quality salts for use in food products.
The project put forward by Jumsal consists of the construction of 10 new salt pans and a reservoir to capture rainwater in order to serve the already existing infrastructures. Each pan will be roughly rectangular, adapted to the terrain, measuring between 110 and 120 metres in length and 80 and 90 metres in width.
The company already operates four boreholes which extract over 1,000 m3 of highly salted water per day, which is then allowed to evaporate in the sun or in high pressure chambers where more modern technology is used. The result is annual production of some 100,000 tons of salt per year, of which around 20 per cent is exported.
Now that a favourable environmental impact report has been issued the intention is to increase that volume, although it is stipulated that adequate steps must be taken to continue protecting the natural environment in the foothills of the Sierra del Carche.
Inland salt production in Murcia
As a result there are substantial salt and mineral deposits in areas which are now a long way from the coast: for example, the water in the River Chícamo, which flows through Abanilla and Fortuna, is unusually salty for an inland watercourse, and this is by no means unique in the Region of Murcia.
When the reservoir of Santomera filled to the brim with floodwater as a result of the severe “gota fría” storm of September 2019, one of the reasons why the authorities were reluctant to open the flood gates and allow the water to run down into the Segura and its fertile flood plane was that the salinity of the excess water was so high after it flowed down the “Rambla Salada” (salty floodwater channel) and the Chícamo that it would have been harmful to agricultural crops.
In the Middle Ages both the Moors and the Christians relied on inland salt production, and in the 13th century the important facilities in the kingdom of Murcia were taken over by King Alfonso X “el Sabio”. These days there are only three active inland salt production centres, two in Jumilla and one in Molina de Segura, but in the past there were others in Mazarrón, Sangonera and other areas.
The origin of most of the inland salt lies between 200 years ago in the late Triassic ands 5 million years ago in the late Cenozoic and has resulted in many cases in the formation of “salt domes” or diapirs. Essentially this means that highly salty water lies underground and of raised to the surface needs only to be allowed to dry in order for the salt to be extracted.
Images: Jumsal
For more local news, events and other information go to the home page of Jumilla Today.
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