Where exactly are the saltpans in The Apprentice's Malta task?
Everything you need to know about the Gozo salt farm
The Apprentice week one might gift viewers some serious octopus-based confusion and a very suspect project manager nomination, but for many the standout moments of the show will be the glimpses of Gozo.
As part of this week’s buying task in Malta, the candidates are asked to purchase some special salt, leading to a visit to Gozo’s picturesque chequerboard Xwejni saltpans.
But where exactly are they? And how do they make salt? Here's everything you need to know...
Where is Gozo?
Just in case you didn’t know exactly where Malta is, it’s a tiny Mediterranean island just below Sicily...
...And Gozo is Malta’s northern island.
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Where are the saltpans in The Apprentice?
Called the Xwejni Saltpans, the 350-year-old pans stretch about 3km along the coast by Xwejni Ba at the northern tip of Gozo, just by the small village of Żebbuġ (not to be confused with the city of Żebbuġ on Malta’s southern island).
Tourists are welcome (free of charge) and can be shown the process behind the salt farming.
How do the saltpans work?
Apparently using the same method as the Romans did, the farmers have to work year round to produce the salt.
In early summer seawater is fed into a series of shallow basins through a system of hand-dug channels. The water evaporates thanks to wind and sun during the hot summer months. It’s then that the white sea salt can be collected, bagged and stored in special caves carved into the coastal rock.
The Apprentice is on 9pm Wednesdays, BBC1
