Barbate asks for money for the Trafalgar Lighthouse 221 years after the battle

The Trafalgar Lighthouse, in Los Caños de Meca, is now protected as a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the Monument category. The Council of Ministers approved the declaration on Tuesday, October 20. This designation is the highest level of protection provided for by the Spanish Historical Heritage Law. For the Barbate City Council, however, the recognition is not enough. The mayor, Miguel Molina, maintains that the protection must come with money and actions to restore the site.

The declaration strengthens the protection of the lighthouse's historical and technical values and requires the necessary actions to be maintained for its conservation and adaptation to advances in maritime signalling. The City Council wants to go further and turn the space into an interpretation centre and a cultural and tourist place for Barbate. Molina recalls that the Council had already promoted protection measures for the tombolo and the lighthouse within the La Breña y Marismas de Barbate Natural Park. He regrets that these designations have not translated into sufficient solutions for the surroundings. «The lighthouse is in a sorry state, and what I miss as mayor is that all these protection measures come with investment and development,» the mayor has stated.

The file was opened by the Ministry of Culture in June 2025. The lighthouse was designed by the engineer Eduardo Saavedra y Moragas and was first lit on July 15, 1862. Its tower is over 35 metres tall and it continues to serve maritime navigation. The approval coincides with the 221st anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, which is commemorated this Wednesday, October 21. Molina believes that this anniversary should serve to give content to the site and spread its history. «We cannot limit ourselves to protecting the surroundings; we have to give it content, spread its history and turn it into a cultural and tourist opportunity for our municipality,» he has stated. The mayor also asks that the administrations take into account the territorial impacts that Barbate bears and that environmental protection measures be backed by economic resources.