Poza de la Sal is a city and a municipality in the judicial district of Briviesca, region of Bureba, province of Burgos, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain.
The urban center of Poza de la Sal was declared a Historic-Artistic Site on November 12, 1982.
Tourism and main attractions
The splendor of the town of Poza de la Sal is due to its salt pans, already exploited since before Roman times and whose strategic value justified the fortification of the town for its defense in the Middle Ages. These salt pans, together with those of Añana in Álava, were the main ones in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.
Salt was, until a few decades ago, a precious material, used as a food preservative, but, until the mining of underground deposits, its production was limited to coastal salt pans and inland springs, so its possession was very coveted.
The production of salt in Poza is carried out by driving the water from the springs through a network of aqueducts to horizontal platforms built of wood and stone. The evaporation of the water leaves the salt ready for collection in deposits protected from the rain or terraces.
Ownership of this resource has passed through various hands throughout history, until in 1564 Felipe II decreed the salt monopoly, which lasted until 1888. The last farm closed in 1974, when salt extraction was definitively abandoned in Poza.
In 2001, the salt pans were declared a “Object of Cultural Interest” and their recovery for tourist use was undertaken. In 2003, a salt interpretation center was opened in the old Administration House of the Salinas Reales and some threshing floors and brine deposits were recovered for cultural dissemination.
Other places of interest include:
The church of San Cosme and San Damián located on La Reden street is of early Gothic style with a Baroque portal, and dates from the end of the XIV century and the beginning of the XV, suffering during the later centuries (XVII and XVIII centuries) numerous reforms and additions.
It belongs to the Archdiocese of Burgos and was declared B.I.C. in 1974 (Date of declaration: 08/27/1974).
The castle of the Rojas is located on top of a hill whose skirt extends the town of Poza de la Sal. Like all castles in Spain, it is protected by the Decree of April 22, 1949, issued by the Ministry of National Education (B.O.E. 5-5-1949) on the protection of Spanish castles.
In the 14th century, the Rodríguez de Rojas family built the current castle on top of the previous 9th-century castle. With this new castle and its walls, the town of Poza was completely protected.
How to get to?
From Burgos 44 min (46.0 km) via BU-V-5021
From Valladolid 2 hr 2 min (178 km) via A-62
From Madrid 3 hr 9 min (300 km) via A-1
Main information
Area: 81 sq. km
GPS coordinates: 42°39′59″N 3°30′06″W
Language: Spanish
Population: 294
Currency: Euro
Visa: Schengen
Time: Central European UTC +1, in summer +2
