Last May 2022, the team from the University of Cadiz (UCA) received the visit of a delegation from the project partner in Tunisia, the SAIDA company, as part of the cross-fertilization activities of MedArtSal. UCA organised several meetings with experts of its staff and other experts on marine sciences from the Biotecnology and Blue Development Institute from the University of Malaga, in order to share knowledge on technical material and modes of operation for extractions of new products from microalgae and macroalgae. The SAIDA’s team received advices on how to improve and continue their work on the Dunaliella salina, a type of halophilic microalgae that is known for its antioxidant activity, and is used in cosmetics and nutritional supplements.

The travel was completed with a visit to three different artisanal salinas in the Cadiz area. Two of them as good examples of tourism business implementation coupled with environment preservation (Marisma de Cetina salina and Chiclana Salina). Also, they had the chance to visit La Esperanza, directly managed by UCA, as a model of integrated management salina with several activities of research and conservation of biodiversity.

They finished the exchange with a visit to the wastewater treatment station El Torno, an industrial instalation which is testing a pilot project to exploit the municipal wastewater of Cadiz for the production of gas through a symbiotic interaction between microalgae and nitrifying bacteria, funded by the EU programme H2020 (ALLgas, H2020).