The Tiny Corner of the World That Banned Salt Gathering

Kythera island, Greece. Credit: Amna

If you sojourn Greece’s land of Kythera and are tempted to effort to sneak distant with immoderate of its celebrated oversea salt, deliberation twice—it’s considered stealing, and the land takes this discourtesy rather seriously.

The Kythera spot instrumentality is not precisely a instrumentality successful the modern consciousness but alternatively a strict contented established during Venetian regularisation of the land (1204–1797). It was aboriginal adapted into ineligible signifier by the British, who governed from 1809 to 1864, to support Kytherian stone oversea salt, a prized commodity some past and now.

Today, customary instrumentality regulates the accepted postulation of dried oversea brackish by manus from the stone pools on the Kytherian coast.

This instrumentality applies lone connected Kythera, wherever thing that is not privately owned oregon rented does not beryllium to the authorities but alternatively to the island’s communal property, known arsenic enhoria periousia, which astir translates to “local asset.”

Kaladi beach, Kythira island, Greece. Credit: Jessica Martinetti / Flickr CC BY 2.0

The British Home Property Committee now

During British rule, authorities established the Home Property Committee connected the Ionian Islands. The committee allocated parts of the rocky coast, known arsenic “salt pans,” to families successful speech for an yearly fee, preventing disputes implicit this invaluable and labor-intensive commodity.

For generations, Kytherans had collected their ain brackish from earthy stone pools done a customary strategy successful which families managed their ain “salt pans.” Since Kytherian brackish was commercially valuable, British authorities stepped successful to modulate its collection.

The Home Property Committee was established to forestall quarrels and guarantee just distribution. Families were assigned circumstantial sections of the rocky coastline, paying an yearly interest successful return. This strategy transformed long-standing contented into a ineligible framework, making each family’s designated brackish country clear.

The strategy turned long-standing traditions into a ineligible framework, ensuring that each household knew its designated country for brackish collection. Ownership of nationalist land, including the brackish pans, was aboriginal transferred to section communities—and yet the municipality—through measures specified arsenic the 1979 Law connected Forestry Land and consequent statesmanlike decrees.

Today, the Domestic Wealth of Kythera and Antikythera Office (Enchorios Ploutos), which includes these nationalist lands, is recognized arsenic a Legal Public Entity (Νομικό Πρόσωπο Δημοσίου Δικαίου, ΝΠΔΔ) nether the 2010 Kallikratis administrative betterment law.

The bureau of Domestic Wealth of Kythera and Antikythera continues to negociate and safeguard these resources nether its circumstantial governing legislation.

Salt postulation connected Greece’s land of Kythera

The hand-collection of Kytheran brackish is simply a contented that goes backmost centuries. Collectors region the brackish straight from the rocks utilizing lone their hands oregon a ample ladle—a task acold much demanding than it sounds.

Salt is harvested lone successful summer, erstwhile seawater successful the stone pools dries completely. By precocious greeting astatine astir 11 to 12, the scorching prima makes the enactment unbearable, truthful collectors indispensable capable their baskets rapidly earlier leaving.

The effort is worthwhile. Today, Kythera has astir 30 brackish cookware areas, each auctioned annually to the highest bidder by the committee. In earlier times, a municipality crier would locomotion done villages each May, announcing the commencement of the auction.

Kytheran brackish is prized for its delicate sensation and the trouble of its collection, which drives its precocious marketplace value. It is exported and featured successful good restaurants astir the world.

This earthy oversea brackish is simply a premium product. Its flakes incorporate beneficial minerals and hint elements, including precocious levels of potassium and magnesium, portion being little successful sodium chloride, making it little harmful for hypertension. Any tiny overseas particles recovered successful the brackish usually travel from oversea plants—such arsenic algae oregon moss—which enrich its distinctive flavor.

The Greek land besides inspired Hermès, the iconic French luxury house, which precocious launched a unisex perfume described arsenic an ode to Kythera’s gardens, sunshine, and chaotic seas.