Cadiz Salt Mine Excavates More Than 50,000 Tons of Salt For Spain's Icy Roads

Cadiz Salt Mine Excavates More Than 50,000 Tons of Salt For Spain’s Icy Roads. In the bay of Cadiz exists the largest salt mine on the coast of Spain, with some 2,500 hectares of marshes supplying the country’s needs, including other European destinations.
The snow, ice and extreme temperatures that Spain is now experiencing has put the salt plant into full speed, working three shifts a day to meet demands.
José Luis Armenteros, commercial director of the company that employs 80 workers and generates annual sales worth around €15 million, said that the damage to the roads caused by Storm Filomena has so far used up 50 per cent of their annual output.
The saline, brines and road salts, the company produces are destined for all of Europe. As yet, as he explained, the chemical reaction to ice and snow by salt is so effective that it has not yet been superseded by another product.
Why is salt so important?
Salt mixed with water in high concentrations is essential to prevent ice on the roads, being able to lower the freezing point of water to a maximum of -21ºC. José explained that if the ice is already present, the sodium chloride, scattered in grains, makes it “harder for a car to slide or people to slip while walking.”
Both properties are basic with temperatures down to -10ºC that are expected in towns such as Madrid, Toledo or Guadalajara. “Now perhaps, people will realize the large number of uses salt has- it is a commodity that has been in use since the Romans, ” he said.
So, just bear in mind that next time you cook or sprinkle some salt on your fish and chips, it probably came from just down the coast from the salt mine in Cadiz.