Museo de la Sal, Cuyutlán

The salt works at Cuyutlán, on Colima's Pacific coast, date to the pre-Hispanic period, when indigenous communities extracted salt from the coastal lagoon using solar evaporation, a practice that continued largely unchanged through the colonial era and into the 20th century. The Museo de la Sal was established in a former salt-processing building in the town of Cuyutlán to document this centuries-long industry, which shaped the local economy long before the town became known as a beach destination. The building itself is a modest single-story structure typical of the coastal salt-works architecture of the region, with the museum occupying the space once used for salt storage and processing. Exhibits trace the evaporation-pond method used to harvest salt from the lagoon, display period tools such as wooden rakes and carrying baskets, and explain the labor organization of the salineros, the workers who managed the ponds through the dry season. The museum also situates the salt industry within Cuyutlán's broader history, including the town's role as a minor Pacific port and its later development as a beach resort known for the seasonal green-wave surf phenomenon. Interpretation follows a thematic approach organized around production stages, harvest, transport, and trade, rather than a strict chronological narrative, reflecting the continuity of the salt-making method across centuries.