Portopí Lighthouse and Castle, the defense of the port of Palma

PalmNext Saturday, November 8th, the ARA Baleares has scheduled a visit to Sant Carles Castle and the Portopí Lighthouse. This activity is part of the program. The secret heritage of the ports of the Balearic IslandsThe initiative, launched a year ago, has been guided from the outset by Fita a Fita – a cultural and family-friendly hiking program – and complemented by articles published concurrently in the newspaper, both in print and online. Supported by the Balearic Islands Port Authority, the initiative's main objective is to explore the archipelago's main ports on foot to understand the land-sea relationship that has developed around them throughout history. It offers a different perspective on ports as strategic hubs for the exchange of people, goods, and culture—a daily reality today, but one that has shaped the waterfronts of Palma, Alcudia, Maó, Ibiza, and La Savina.

This article does not describe any itinerary, only the cultural highlights we will enjoy during next week's visit and the historical context of the Portopí Lighthouse, one of the three oldest lighthouses in the world, and Sant Carles Castle, the first major defense of the port of Palma. The Portopí Lighthouse is located in a restricted-access area of the port's public domain. For operational and security reasons, all visits must be arranged in advance via email. fardeportopi@portsdebalears.com or by filling out the booking form that you will find on the website farsdebalears.comAs for Sant Carles Castle, the museum and fortress are managed by a consortium comprised of the Ministry of Defense, the Government of the Balearic Islands, the Island Council of Mallorca, and the Palma City Council. It can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, except Mondays and public holidays, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. EMT bus line 1, which connects the Sindicato bus station with the Western Dock, stops in front of the castle and the lighthouse.

The route

[00 min] First and foremost, we must focus our attention on the Portopí roadstead, the first port in the Bay of Palma. Today, the name Portopí encompasses a neighborhood of Palma, located between the end of the seafront promenade and Cala Major, in the western part of the city. This neighborhood takes its name from a long, narrow cove sheltered from the wind by the Serra de na Burguesa mountain range. As its name suggests (port of the pine tree), from antiquity until the modern era, the cove, as a natural refuge, served as the city's port. Important monuments remain from this period, including the shipyard, located in the old maritime quarter, and the royal port at the foot of the Alvenda, at the mouth of the Riera stream, when this waterway flowed through the city, along what are now the Rambla and Born promenades. This area also houses the Consulate of the Sea and the Lonja (former fish market).

But the noise of merchants and tradespeople (boatmen, caulkers, shipwrights, sleuths, etc.) around the fish market and the seaside quarter was one thing, and the space where the ships took shelter was quite another. The port of Portopí had two towers, one of which is the current lighthouse, that guarded the harbor and protected it at night with a chain. We must go back to the 14th century, when lighthouses were still bonfires (fire-starters), to return to the origins of the third oldest lighthouse in the world, after the Tower of Hercules in A Coruña and the lantern of Genoa. Initially, it stood atop the hill that, since the 17th century, has been occupied by the fortress of San Carlos, originally called 'Portopí Castle'. It is a historic lighthouse, already mentioned in a document dated September 12, 1300, as part of the codicil included in the will of King James II of Majorca, preserved in the National Library of France in Paris. Its uninterrupted operation throughout the centuries and the presence within it of one of the world's most important maritime signal museums make this a unique place. The jewel in the crown of the port of Palma.

This roadstead on the western side of Palma Bay has always been a strategic point for both navigational guidance and defense. However, the pressure exerted by Turkish and Berber piracy on the archipelago's coastline during the 15th and 16th centuries forced the strengthening of its defenses, especially in the port of Palma, which since the Middle Ages had been one of the most important in the Mediterranean. For this reason, the Merchant College pressured the monarchy to activate new and more robust defenses, beyond the deployment of the five watchtowers. Construction of San Carlos Castle took place during the reign of Philip III, between 1610 and 1612, when Carlos Coloma, after whom the fortification is named, was viceroy.

Defensive Constructions

While it is true that military and strategic considerations guided the design of Palma's walled perimeter, expanded and reinforced from the 16th century onwards, new defensive structures began to be built outside the walls. The Cala Figuera tower and the Cape Blanc tower guarded the outermost part of the bay. Further inland, Porrassa and Illetes stood to the west, while the Pau and Enderrocat towers (the latter a fortress from the 19th century onwards) stood to the north. But a further step was needed, especially given the significant pressure exerted by merchants due to the substantial losses caused by piracy. Thus, at the beginning of the 17th century, the decision was made to undertake the construction of Sant Carles Castle. However, it wasn't until the late 19th century, and due to other circumstances, that the fortresses of the Pau tower and the Cape Enderrocat were built, replacing the old watchtowers and completing the defense of Palma Bay with significant crossfire protection. The Portopí lighthouse and Sant Carles castle are two exceptional heritage sites that illustrate the often complex and turbulent land-sea interaction of the port of Palma. Despite their proximity, a route connecting them is not possible due to access restrictions imposed for security reasons.