Kythira salt harvest’s historical roots
Giorgos Sklavos uses a slotted spoon to collect sea salt from depressions in the rocks on the coast of Kythira, on Saturday. Salt harvesters on the island, which lies off the southeastern tip of the Peloponnese, have seen business pick up in recent years as Kythira’s premium salt has come back in vogue. Licenses to harvest salt at around 30 specific locations around the island are put to auction annually by the Domestic Property Committee of Kythira-Antikythira, an institution that dates back to 1815 when the islands of the Ionian – to which Kythira and Antikythira belong – were under British rule. It was designed to protect public assets. [Anastasia Kalopedi/AMNA]