The lighthouse beams across the sea and leaves its mark on the land

Abstract

For many a resident of coastal cities or villages, thelighthouse is the very image of their childhood, a fondmemory of times past. And many a light post has marked anddefined the land over which it towers... landscapes changedby human hands, imbued by that change with a distinctpersonality.
Machichaco, Cabo Mayor at Santander, Peñas, Hércules atLa Coruña, Chipiona, the “Farol” in Cádiz, Trafalgar, the“Farola” in Málaga, Porto Pí, Maspalomas, … all arelandmarks that represent far more than their mere purpose asa beaming guide.
“Tower or other building eequipped to guide navigtors bymeans of a powerful light that gives a continuous orinterrupted signal” is Webster’s definition of lighthouse. But amore precise description might be: “Permanent light signallocated high over the coast, that warns of danger in the darkor charts a course for navigators”. And as such, these arestructures intended for a recent use, barely three centuries old.