The Xwejni salt pans, Gozo's chequerboard of salt

The Xwejni salt pans are one of those sights you’ve seen in every photo of Gozo that still catch you off guard in person. They’re a chequerboard of square and rectangular pools cut into the limestone, running into the sea along the north coast, just past Qbajjar Bay and west of Marsalforn. The Ministry for Gozo reckons they stretch for about 3 km and are around 350 years old. After Dwejra, I think they’re the most photogenic landscape on the island.

How they work

The system is as simple as it is old. Seawater fills the shallow pools, the sun evaporates it over several days, and salt crystals are left behind. The cycle repeats through the summer, from mid-May to September. The salt is dried and stored in caves cut into the coastal rock, and it’s still raked by hand with traditional tools.

According to the Ministry, the method dates back to the Phoenicians and developed under the Romans. What’s documented by name is the continuity. Families such as the Cinis have harvested salt here since the 1860s, and the Ministry mentions Josephine Xuereb and her family as keepers of the tradition. Out of season, the same families repair the pools against wind and wave erosion.

When to go

The shapes are there all year, because this is open coastline. But if you want to see the harvesters at work, it has to be summer. Timing matters too. The Ministry describes how, as the sun sets, the still water in the pools becomes a mosaic of mirrors in crimson, gold and amber. I’d go late on an afternoon in June or September, when the harvest is on and the heat has eased. There’s more on that season in Malta in summer.

One rule worth respecting. The Ministry asks people not to walk on the salt pans, to avoid damaging them. Photos from the edge or the path.

Getting there

The nicest way is on foot from Marsalforn. The Ministry says the walk to Qbajjar is like strolling along the water’s edge, and carrying on brings you to Xwejni and the pans. You can also come down a coastal path from Żebbuġ, the village on the hill above. By car, the pans line the road between Marsalforn and Żebbuġ, where the largest stretch runs between Xwejni and Wied il-Għasri. For a swim afterwards, Qbajjar and Xwejni are two shallow bays of pebbles and rock right beside the pools.

Coming over from the main island for the day, you’ll take Gozo Channel from Ċirkewwa to Mġarr, a crossing of around 25 minutes with a €4.65 return ticket bought on Gozo for the trip back, and Malta Public Transport lists bus 322 to Marsalforn. From there it’s the walk along the shore. With a hire car, check your insurance covers the ferry crossing and Gozo, as Spain’s foreign ministry advises its own citizens, and leave time for parking at the busiest spots in summer.

Next door

The salt pans pair well with two other spots on the north coast. To the east, Qbajjar has a couple of bars and restaurants on the seafront and a few fishing boats, says the Ministry for Gozo. To the west, at the end of the salt-pan stretch, is Wied il-Għasri, a deep gorge ending in a pebbly cove reached by steps cut into the cliff. In rough weather, the Ministry advises admiring it from a safe distance. I’d do all three in one afternoon, from Qbajjar to the pans and, light permitting, on to the gorge.

Salt, the best souvenir on Gozo

Xwejni salt is sold in plastic bags, cloth sacks and jars, at village markets and craft shops, sometimes straight from the roadside and by the salt-pan keepers themselves. The Ministry mentions an old store room cut into the rock at Xwejni, now a shop, reached by steps carved in the cliff. If you want to take home something from Malta that isn’t a fridge magnet, this is where I’d buy it; more ideas in Malta souvenirs.

Gozo’s other salt pans

Xwejni isn’t the only place. The Ministry mentions disused salt pans at Xatt l-Aħmar, by the swimming area overlooked by Fort Chambray at the edge of Mġarr, and on the headland below Xlendi’s tower, beside deep water and much harder to reach. They’re lovely, but for working salt pans, Xwejni is the one.