The Kingdom of Spain occupies nearly 85% of the Iberian Peninsula in southeastern Europe with coastlines facing south and southeast on the Mediterranean Sea and northwest on the Atlantic Ocean. Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the north coast of Morocco. The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the Mediterranean off the east coast of Spain. Mallorca (Majorca) is by far the largest of the islands; the other principal islands are Menorca (Minorca) to the northeast and Ibiza (Eivissa) and Formentera to the southwest. The islands were conquered by the Kingdom of Aragon in the 13th century and have been part of Spain for several centuries. The Catalan language is spoken and the islands are known officially by their Catalan name, Illes Balears. In the 20th century the Balearics became very popular resort destinations. The islands are one of the 17 autonomous communities (comunidads autónoma) into which Spain is divided. They form a single province but each of the four major islands has an insular council for local government. This page is for Mallorca and Menorca; there is a second page for Ibiza and Formentera. In Catalan the word for a lighthouse is far, balisa is a beacon, illa is an island, cap is a cape, punt is a promontory or point of land, roca is a rock, escull is a reef, badia is a bay, ria is an estuary or inlet, estret is a strait, riu is a river, and port is a port or harbor. The word for a lighthouse is faro in Spanish but its use is generally restricted to the larger coastal light stations. Smaller lighthouses are called balizas (beacons). In Spanish isla is an island, cabo is a cape, punta is a promontory or point of land, péñon is a rock, arrecife is a reef, bahía is a bay, ría is an estuary or inlet, estrecho is a strait, río is a river, and puerto is a port or harbor. Navigational lights in Spain are the responsibility of the national port authority, Puertos del Estado, but many of them are operated and maintained by regional port authorities. The Balearics have their own port authority, the Autoritat Portuària de Balears. The Comisión de Faros, founded in 1842 to build and maintain Spanish lighthouses, is now an advisory panel. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. ES numbers are from the Spanish national list of lights, Libro de Faros. Admiralty numbers are from volume E of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
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Mallorca (Majorca) Lighthouses
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Cala Figuera Light, Port d'Andratx, January 2022 Google Maps photo by Nikolai Maksimovich |
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Cabrera Lighthouses
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Menorca (Minorca) Lighthouses
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:,
Adjoining pages: North: Catalonia | West: Valencia and Murcia | Southwest: Ibiza and Formentera
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Posted March 20, 2006. Checked and revised June 2, 2024. Lighthouses: 49. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.