The salt pans of Malta and Gozo are among the islands’ oldest surviving examples of traditional industry, dating back to the Phoenician and Roman periods, when natural coastal formations were first adapted to harvest sea salt. These shallow, rock-hewn pools carved into the limestone coast were designed to collect seawater, which then evaporated under the hot Mediterranean sun, leaving behind crystallized salt. Over the centuries, salt production became a crucial part of the local economy, providing a staple preservative and seasoning for the population and for export. The Order of St John regulated salt harvesting strictly, given its importance to food storage and trade, and families often inherited rights to manage particular stretches of salt pans.
Today, the most famous and picturesque salt pans are found at Xwejni Bay, limits of Marsalforn in Gozo, stretching for hundreds of metres along the coast, as well as at Salina Bay, St Paul’s Bay, and Marsaskala in Malta. Some are still in use, worked by local families who continue the centuries-old methods of channeling seawater, tending the pans, and raking up the salt once dry. Beyond their economic and culinary value, the salt pans are now also recognized as important cultural landscapes and ecological sites, drawing visitors for their geometric beauty, historical continuity, and as habitats for coastal flora and migratory birds. They stand as a living testament to the Maltese people’s ingenuity in harnessing natural resources for survival on small, resource-scarce islands.