Faro de Cala Figuera (Torren d'en Beu)

Viewpoint | Santanyí

It was designed by Emili Pou. It was inaugurated on 31-07-1860 as a 6th order lighthouse with fixed light and constant level lamps of a wick, although the optics installed were of 5th order. In 1919 rotating screens were added to the optics that produced a luminous appearance of 2 occultations every 10 seconds, illuminating by means of acetylene gas elaborated in a gas generator installed inside a hut annexed to the lighthouse. In 1950 the acetylene system broke down and the use of Maris or Aladdin lamps (both were used alternatively) with petroleum as fuel was recovered. In 1962 the old lantern was replaced by an aeromaritime lantern and the signal was electrified and the tower was rebuilt. At this date the optics were also changed, and a 4th order aeromaritime was installed, which generated a luminous appearance of 4 flashes every 20 seconds. The lighting was then produced by 1500 w electric lamps. In September 1970, the radio beacon installed there (today DGPS Differential GPS) began to operate. In that year the extension of houses was carried out. Due to the low height of this cliff, in the days of strong SW storms, the water reaches the lighthouse premises. Among the shipwrecks occurred in this point, the one happened in 1953 stands out, when in the dawn of April 1st, the ship Ciudad de Palma of the Trasmediterránea Company ran aground in Punta de Mulá, without any loss of human lives. As at the beginning the lighthouse had a supply service by boat, a way was opened in the cliff to bring up from the sea the provisions and fuel. Today the remains of that small pier and the access road can still be seen. When in 1926 an automatic beacon was placed on the islet of El Toro, the lighthouse keepers of Calafiguera were in charge of its maintenance, so they were picked up at the wharf near the lighthouse and taken to the islet to maintain the signal. One of the hardest and most dangerous tasks consisted of raising the acetylene cylinders by a davit placed on the edge of the cliff of the islet and carrying them to the beacon, which, if the sea was not very calm, was a very complicated task.