This area is a low-lying plain close to the sea and the arenal beach. It is only 1.2m above sea level, but protected from salt water incursion by the elevated fossilised sand dunes (tosca) which runs along the coast. It is prone to flooding. In the past it was used for agriculture and during the Roman era (and for hundreds of years later) as a salt pan to extract salt from the sea. The Roman channel still exists today as the Sequia de la Noria.
Background on the past history of floods and flood risk of this region can be found in Jávea Floods
The Saladar is one of the last large areas of urbanisable land available in Xàbia. Despite the fact that it is a flood zone, ambitious urban plans have been submitted to develop this area.
The most recent was the Salavador Vila proposal to urbanise the Saladar
The Saladar - Zoning under the draft 2008 PGOU shows that the periphery is earmarked for intensive urbanisation, while the centre is zoned as green and sports areas.
However a late ammendment to the Consultative Document for the PGOU, voted on in July 2010, designated the Saladar area as non-urbanisable, since it is a flood zone.
"La Zona inundable del Saladar con nivel de Riesgo 3 se sitúa en Suelo No Urbanizable"
Approval for this re-classification, must, however must come from the Valencia Government.
In Feb 2012 Biologist Jaume Soler proposed conserving and recuperating the area: See Soler's proposal for the Saladar
