Faro de la Punta Avanzada

Viewpoint | Pollença

The project was drafted by Eusebi Estada. In 1897 the mayor of Pollensa addressed a letter to the General Directorate of Public Works, requesting the location of a lighthouse in "la Punta Avanzada", so its construction was determined in December 1898. At the beginning it was thought that it would be of 6th order and red fixed light, but in the Plan of 1902 it was granted an appearance of concealments. Its construction began in 1903 and it was inaugurated on December 15, 1905 with a curious appearance of short and long flashes separated by occultations of equal duration. The long flashes were of 8 seconds and the short ones of 2 seconds, while the occultations lasted 3.5 seconds. It began by illuminating with a 250 mm focal length dioptric optic for single-wick Maris lamps. The illumination system also had an incandescent lamp and external heating for foggy days, also manufactured by Barbier Benard and Turenne, with 30 mm caps (first of this type in the Balearic Islands). In October 1953 the signal was electrified and in 1974 the tower was raised 6 meters, modifying at the same time its turret and changing the lantern. Although it was not a lighthouse exposed to the big storms, its lighthouse keepers had to take charge in more than one occasion of rescuing the castaways of some boats. On one of these occasions, on January 27, 1909, the lighthouse keeper's young son reported that a falucho was sinking with two crew members. Of the two sailors, only one could be saved, and the lighthouse keeper reported that the other had died only ten minutes earlier.