Plan unveiled to declare famous Trafalgar lighthouse in Spain as an asset of cultural interest

Spain's Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts, part of the national Ministry of Culture, has initiated proceedings to declare the Trafalgar lighthouse (faro de Trafalgar) as an asset of cultural interest, in the monument category. This is the famous lighthouse located in Los Caños de Meca in the municipality of Barbate on the Cadiz coastline of the Andalucía region.

As published in the BOE official state gazette on Monday 16 June, a public consultation period of 20 days from Tuesday has been opened. Anyone interested in the matter can consult the file in person at the Ministry of Culture's provincial offices or online at the virtual office.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Culture will notify the following bodies of this resolution: Barbate town hall, the state's port authorities, specifically the port authority for the Bay of Cadiz, the regional government of Andalucía and the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. Meanwhile the culture ministry in Madrid will continue processing the case to have the monument declared as an asset of cultural interest in accordance with current legislation.

According to the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture, the purpose of having the lighthouse declared as an asset of cultural interest is to protect the historical, scientific and technical values of the monument, without this protection interfering in any way with official maritime activities in the surrounding area. For example, it cannot interfere with the powers provided for in the revised text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Navy regarding any necessary tasks for the planning, coordination and control of the Spanish maritime signalling system.

The Trafalgar lighthouse, built at the end of the 19th century, is one of the most unique buildings on the coast of Cadiz and in all Andalucía, according to the BOE, which points out that its location was already strategic in its time and it bore witness to several important moments in history.

Built by the engineer Eduardo Saavedra Moragas (1829-1912) , in collaboration with Rafael Navarro, Antonio de Palacio and Manuel García, students of the Spanish Civil Engineering School, the lighthouse bears historical testimony to the technology and science of its time linked to both maritime navigation and the industrial revolution.

The Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts considers that the building has the necessary historical, scientific and technical values, in accordance with article 1 of Law 16/1985 of 25 June 1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage, for its declaration as an Asset of Cultural Interest, and has formally initiated the appropriate actions to ensure its legal protection, to increase awareness of the monument and to take the appropriate measures for its proper conservation, according to the BOE official state gazette.

For all these reasons, the Ministry of Culture is of the view that the Trafalgar lighthouse becoming an asset of cultural interest is "completely justified", in accordance with the current regulations and for the purpose of guaranteeing the adequate preservation of the lighthouse itself and its surroundings.