Salinas de Armallá

Salinas de Armallá

The salt flats of Armallá are located just 15 kilometres from Molina de Aragónbelong to the municipality of Tierzo and can be found between kilometres 85 and 86 of the CM-210.

The origins of the Armallá salt works date back to Roman timesalthough the first documented data refer to the 10th century. However, the current construction and structure corresponds to the reign of Charles III (1759-1788), when the Crown took over the management of salt. What is known is that the name of the place comes from the period of Arab occupation, since in that language, salt mine is translated as "madin al-mallaha", which may derive from the "Armallá" that we know today.

In Armallá, the warehouses (called alfolíes) of salt extracted; the mill by means of which salt-laden water was captured, the concentration tank and the eras drying room. All this was enclosed by a wall with a single access. Next to it is the administrator's house, which is a relatively modern building, the most modern of all, from the 1950s, and on the other side of the road is the main salt warehouse.

The process of salt extraction began with the pumping of salt-laden water. For this purpose, the mill had a waterwheel driven by animal traction, although it was replaced by a motor at the beginning of the 20th century. The water came out of the mill through a chute to the concentration tank, also called annealerwhere it gained salinity through evaporation.

From this large pond, water was distributed to the threshing floors through a network of canals located on the ridgesThese were the dykes that separated each of the threshing floors through which the horses circulated to collect the salt. The threshing floors or pools were shallow ponds in which water was accumulated for evaporation during the months of maximum sunshine. When the water evaporated completely, the salt was collected and stored in warehouses for sale and distribution.

Approximately 23 kilos of salt were obtained for every 100 litres of water, which shows the high quality of the spring, as the concentrations obtained in other salt works in Spain were between 18 and 26 kilos of salt per 100 litres of solution.

Finally, according to legend, the valley of the Vega de Arias witnessed the journey on the way to the exile of the Cid Campeadorin the neighbouring town of Fuembellidathe Casa Fuerte de la Vega de Ariaswhere the Knight is supposed to have taken a rest on his long journey.

In case you want to visit it, we leave you the contact with the Town Hall of Tierzo for possible consultations.

-Town Hall: Plaza Mayor, 1 19390
-Phone: 949831625
E-mail: [email protected]