El Faro de Carbonera, registered officially as Torre Carbonera, or Torre de Punta Mala, is an active
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
located on Punta Mala, in the coastal town of
La Alcaidesa
La Alcaidesa is an affluent gated community (known as an ''urbanización'' in Spanish) near Sotogrande, Spain (within the municipalities of La Línea de la Concepción and San Roque), in the Andalusian province of Cádiz, accessed by junction 124 ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, overlooking the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa.
The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...
. The lighthouse is situated in the municipality of
San Roque and lies north of the
Playa de La Alcaidesa
Playa de La Alcaidesa is a beach in the municipalities of La Línea de la Concepción and San Roque, Spain, San Roque, in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. It is a Blue Flag beach, blue flag beach with calm waters, unspoilt vegetation, and ...
.
It is protected as a monument of cultural interest (
Bien de Interés Cultural
(, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries.
The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...
) by Spain's
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
* Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
* Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
* Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
* Minister for the Arts (Australia)
* Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...
under the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage, and is managed by the Port Authority of Algeciras (
Autoridad Portuaria de la Bahía de Algeciras).
Although not open to the public for visits, the lighthouse can be accessed via several dirt tracks leading up from the beach. There is a small ruin of the Casa de Carbonera (charcoal-maker's house) next to the lighthouse.
History
Originally a 16th-century
watchtower
A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...
commissioned by
King Felipe II and built in 1588, it was later restored in the 18th-century. It was envisioned to be converted from tower to lighthouse under the Maritime Signalling Plan in 1984, and the conversion project from tower 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, and it began working as an active lighthouse in 1989.
It was included into the Port of Algeciras Bay Authority’s Conservation & Historical Asset Enhancement Plan in 2021.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Spain
This is a list of lighthouses in Spain.
Lighthouses
By autonomous communities
* List of lighthouses in the Balearic Islands
* List of lighthouses in the Canary Islands
See also
* Lists of lighthouses and lightvessels
This article c ...
References
{{Authority control
Lighthouses in Andalusia