Camarinal Lighthouse

Faro Camarinal

Optical Array Details

Location: Tarifa, Cabo de Gracia.
Co-ordinates: 36° 5.404' N 005° 48.631' W
Signal Type: Lighthouse
Height: 20m
Light Source: 12-Level, VEGA-Manufactured LED Lantern (Mod. VLB-44)
Year: 2011
Colour: White
Light & Sound Character: Groups of 2 x 5-Second Flashes (L: 3, 0, occ. 0, 5; L: 1, 0, occ. 0, 5).

Faro Camarinal Óptica

Map of Location & Visibility

Faro Camarinal Ubicación

History

The lighthouse is located between Zahara de los Atunes and the Bolonia inlet, on a crest of the Sierra de la Plata, and built on top of an old watchtower built in 1588 – previously named Cabo de la Plata and then Cabo de Gracia – and near to the Eastern side of Punta Camarinal, which gives it its modern-day name.

Its tapered tower is built in unrendered masonry and still retains the warden’s gatehouse on the rooftop. It measures 7.5m in diameter at its base and stands 20m high. Accessed by a single French door that leads to a vaulted living space, in older times the approach to the door was via a ladder, and then up to the rooftop by a spiral stairway embedded into the wall.

The decision for its construction under the Maritime Signalling Plan in 1984, and the conversion project from watchtower to lighthouse – as presented by the civil engineer Carlos Prieto and the architect Enrique Martinez Tercero – was taken from a Contest of Ideas to Build Lighthouses in 1988. The contest had been set up by the Department of Public Works & Development’s General Directorate of Ports and Coasts (Maritime Signalling Division) to try and furnish the new Maritime Signalling Plan with light and radio signalling for shipping at the required technical and efficiency levels. Another of the goals set out in by what was to become the 1985-1989 Maritime Signalling Plan (still in effect today) was to restore some of the area’s 16th Century towers, built to sound an advance warning of Berber pirate raids, and all of which made up a significant historic heritage collection.

The project to restore and convert the old Cabo de Gracia tower into a lighthouse was undertaken by Carlos Prieto and Enrique Martinez in 1989. The project provided the tower with a modern, external spiral staircase in concrete, in such a way as to separate the modern, refurbished parts of the original building from the aesthetics of the old watchtower. A lighthouse lantern was installed on the rooftop (which even retained its original gatehouse) and it was put into service in 1989. The lighthouse has an electrically-operated barrel array with a 75-metre focal plane over the sea, beaming a pattern of two 5-second flashes of white light and a visibility of 13 miles.

The year 1997 saw it become monitored and operated by remote control.

Heritage & Conservation

Included into the General Declaration under the Spanish Historical Heritage Act (Law 16/1985, 25/06/1985 and registered as an Asset of Cultural Interest in Official Govt. Bulletin Nº 155, 29/06/1985) by the 25/06/1985 Decree; and under a special acknowledgement normally granted to castles by the Andalusian Government in 1993.
Registered as a Cultural Asset of Interest (Real Estate) under the name of “Tower of Cabo de Gracia” under the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage.
General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage

Digital Guide to Andalusian Historical Heritage
Included into the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority’s Conservation & Historical Asset Enhancement Plan, in 2021.

Features

Located in the heart of the Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park, between the popular beaches of Los Alemanes and El Cañuelo, in the Borough of Tarifa.
The lighthouse is built on top of a watchtower built in 1588 to protect the coast from raids by Berber pirates, on lands belonging to the Duke of Alcala.
The tower’s conversion to a lighthouse was envisioned in the 1984 Lighting Plan.
The conversion project from tower to lighthouse was a prize-winner in the idea contest set up by the Department for Public Works & Development in 1988.

Visits

Camarinal Lighthouse is not currently open to visitors, although you may consult the information about the trail that leads to the lighthouse at the following link:

More Information

Faro Camarinal Visitas