Terras de Sal Cooperative

Terras de Sal is a cooperative that brings together producers of traditional sea salt and flor de sal in Castro Marim, in the far east of the Algarve beside the Guadiana. It was set up to promote and sell its members' salt and to keep traditional salt making alive in the area, and it is the producer group behind the designation of origin for Castro Marim salt and flor de sal. Its premises are in the town of Castro Marim, which is ringed by the salt pans.

The members' pans lie entirely inside the Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Salt Marsh Nature Reserve, a wetland protected under the Ramsar Convention and the Natura 2000 network. Water from the Guadiana estuary enters with the tides and is moved from pond to pond by gravity, concentrating through evaporation in the sun and wind. The salt is gathered by hand, is not washed or refined and has nothing added. The cooperative states that its product, sites and methods are checked and certified by Nature & Progrès and by the Portuguese certifier Sativa.

The range covers coarse sea salt, flor de sal, flavoured flor de sal and a liquid salt, packed for home cooks, delicatessens and restaurants. The harvest takes place in the dry summer months, when the pans around the town are at their busiest. Castro Marim is a short drive from Vila Real de Santo António, the last stop on the Algarve railway line; contact the cooperative before visiting its premises.