Punta Grossa lighthouse (disused)

History
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History

Now disused. This lighthouse was included in the 1847 plan with a third order lens and a signal pattern of a fixed white light alternating with occultations every four minutes which made it the slowest-rotating light in the Balearic Islands. Was designed by Emili Pou. At the time it had a range of 15 nautical miles for an observer situated 4m above sea level and in normal atmospheric conditions. Its location caused contention from the moment of its conception. There were two schools of thought – one defending its location on the Punta Grossa promontory for easy landfall and the other fighting for it to be built on Tagomago Island, arguing that the light would provide a better service for general users and especially for fishermen. Access to a clifftop site 127m above sea level on a headland 2400m from the nearest road created countless complications and obstacles for the construction of the lighthouse – all material had to be transported by sea and then carried to the site. Work was made more difficult due to an outbreak of cholera and the necessity to change quarries due to the poor quality of the stone taken from the first location. For these reasons the lighthouse did not open until the 15th September 1870, even though the lighthouse keepers posted to the site had been there since 1868. Soon after its opening it was generally accepted that its location was far from ideal and a new lighthouse was built on the island of Tagomago and the Punta Grossa lighthouse was abandoned. Although the Tagomago lighthouse was lit in 1914, the Punta Grossa light was not put out until the 1st August 1916 due to a delay in the installation of a beacon to signal the entrance to the small harbour at Cala Sant Vicenç. In 1918 the lighthouse was handed over to the Treasury.

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