The largest salt pans in Europe and the flamingos
On the Adriatic coast between Barletta and Manfredonia, the salt pans of Margherita di Savoia are the largest in Europe and among the largest in the Mediterranean: about 4,000 hectares of evaporation basins stretching for 20 kilometres along the coast, separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land. Salt has been produced here since antiquity, perhaps since the time of the Daunians, and the town itself, called Saline until 1879, was renamed in honour of the Queen of Italy.
Sea water is channelled into a sequence of basins, where the sun and wind make it evaporate slowly, increasing the concentration of salt until it crystallises in great white heaps, harvested between August and October. The salt pans also form one of the most important wetlands in Italy, a nature reserve and a Ramsar site, home to tens of thousands of birds: herons, egrets, avocets, black-winged stilts, terns and above all large colonies of pink flamingos, which feed on the small crustaceans of the brine and whose pink colour comes from them. Guided tours, on foot, by bicycle or by electric shuttle, show both the production process and the wildlife. In town, a museum of the salt pans tells the story, and spa centres use the mineral-rich muds and brines.
Tip: spring and autumn are the best seasons for flamingos; the sunset over the pink-tinged basins is spectacular.
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