S'Arenella lighthouse

The predecessor of the Punta s'Arenella lighthouse is a watchtower. The Catalan coast, during the middle and modern times, was insecure in the face of Saracen and pirate danger, which led to the construction of a wide network of watchtowers, forts and patrol roads intended to guarantee its defense. The lighthouse is located precisely within the coastal path between Port de la Selva and Llançà. The defenselessness of Port de la Selva, at the end of the 14th century, is documented in the “plea that those of La Selva [previous name of Port de la Selva] gave and presented to Fr. Bertran, abbot of the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes , that in view of the fact that in the past they have been robbed, destroyed and battered by Serran [Saracens] enemies of the Cross and as there is an eminent danger of greater irreparable damage by following said place by said enemies, as in said place there is no force or “No defense so that men can defend themselves, they pray that they can make the church a fortress to defend themselves from their enemies, on March 11, 1397.” Consequently, the church of San Sebastián, outside the town, was fortified.

Far from the pirate dangers, in 1891 the Girona Shipwrecked Rescue Society demanded the construction of a lighthouse. But they had to wait until the Lighting Reform Plan of 1902 for its convenience to be endorsed. Initially it was thought to erect it in la Lloia, but the place where it is today was considered more appropriate, which has a greater angle of vision, although it is very beaten by the north wind.

Finally, in 1913, twenty-two years after its need was justified, it was inaugurated, with white bursts of one second every five seconds, and so that the port lights of the Port de la Selva depended on it.

In July 1937, in the middle of the Civil War, two batteries were installed next to the lighthouse. Now for one reason, now one for another, the light often did not work. Once the war was over, military barracks were set up that lasted two long decades. During and after the Second World War, mines were washed away at the foot of the lighthouse. Many of them were deactivated by the Navy, but others exploded, shaking the lighthouse. In 1999 the lighthouse keeper's plaza permanently disappeared.

The Punta s'Arenella lighthouse inspired poetic prose by J. V. Foix, who spent his summers in Port de la Selva.

Els Fars de Catalunya de nord a sud. Generalitat de Catalunya.