​​ The difficult access to the natural ports of Fangar and the Alfaques, due to the changing shallows formed by the alluvium soils dragged by the river Ebro, determined that this area would be one which was most in need of illumination and therefore, its inclusion in the First Maritime Lighting Plan of Spain approved by Royal decree on 13th September 1847.

In the same decree were established the building of three lighthouses of different order and importance, to be situated on the isle of Buda, Baña Point and Fangar Point as the most representative geographical points to define the delta lands.

The sedimentary and soft characteristics of the land, slightly delayed the project. From an inspection carried out to study the area, the following proposal was sent to the Government: “The imperious need to illuminate the entries to the Ebro is so known, that price raising is excusable against the advantages of establishing as soon as possible a light in that port.

Taking note of the nature of the soil, formed by the alluviums successive to the river rises, that deposit mud and clay that the waters bring, the building of a lighthouse of an elevated order with such soft and shifting soil would be difficult and costly and perhaps after a number of years would lose a great part of its importance due to the continuing growth that is observed on the coast, that would mean the light would end up too far inland”. Precisely for the concealment of this need, in 1857 the head engineer of Tarragona province, Angel Camón, presented a first project of a provisional tower, which the Lighthouses Commission rejected after reading the quoted report “because he proposed building it using hollow bricks”.

The recommendations imposed by the Commission established that “all should be provisional, from the light to the construction built to house it and hence recommends that this be built from wood, of at least 10m in height, and on which maximum simplicity and saving be procured, without detracting from the necessary stability" With respect to the definitive 2nd order lighthouse and the two others that were forecast, it was suggested that most beneficial would be "the adoption of a iron tower with screw on pylons, a system which, considering it is the most adequate for the location, has the huge advantage of being able to be dismantled and moved easily, whenever the growth of the river deposits necessitates it.

In the interim, a catadioptric device of 5th order placed on a wooden framework as mentioned before, will in no time provide without any great difficulty or increased expenditure, the enormous advantages that navigators so yearn for and that undoubtedly will be secured with the establishment of light in the frightful mouths of the Ebro”. Following these guidelines, on 3rd October 1859, Ángel Camón presented, under the heading "Description of an iron lighthouse model for the Baña points in the Alfaques and the Fangar”, a first project which would place an iron tower in the Ebro Delta. Two months later, on 12th December, he subscribes another entitled “Project for an iron lighthouse for the mouths of the Ebro River: Buda Lighthouse”. As a way of laying the foundations he uses the coils invented by the Englishman Alexander Mitchell “…whose vast resistance, however soft the soil, is enough to build a secure foundation that will not suffer subsidence, nor is altered by the swell, nor is at risk of sinking into the ground, therefore able to resist without any risk the load which will be placed upon it, naturally, having arranged the number of pylons to fit its diameters and the surface extensions of the spirals that carry this to its lower extremities".

For the Buda lighthouse, the engineer restricts himself to informing of the main characteristics of a lighthouse he chooses as a model, built by the Americans on the Florida peninsula. Meanwhile the final solution is decided and so as not to delay further a situation growing evermore distressing, the president of the Lighthouse Commission Jose de Arias, prepared a document dated 6th August 1859 and directed towards the General Manager of Public Works, in which he states: Dear Sir,: The repeated disasters that occur every winter at the Mouths of the Ebro, due exclusively to the lack of a light to point out to navigators the dangerous shallows of the area, force this Commission to call your attention to this very important Port. As the achievement of proper and approved illumination for this area of the coast will take some time and consequently neither this winter nor the next will be ready, this Commission believes that the positioning of a simple and provisional wooden frame of 6 to 8m, with a small 6th order device, situated on the Isle of Buda, would not only be of great service to vessels that frequent this site, but would also avoid the almost certain disgraces, that occur due to the lack of an indicative light in the area, however small its reach. If the Directorate approves the proposed idea, the Commissions concept can be carried out for the beginning of winter, later making use of the 6th order device in the Fangar Point, when the illumination is complete in this locality, and in this way giving more time to the study of the iron towers proposed for the lights of that point”. By virtue of this argument the General Directorate approve the construction and entrusts Ángel Camón with the elaboration of the provisional lighthouse. Finalised on 31st August 1859 and entitled “Project of a wooden framework to place a sixth order light on the Isle of Buda, in the mouth of the Ebro River, study commissioned by the General Management of Public Works”. The quote was for 19,850 reales, price which included the purchase of a boat and the construction of a hut for the tower builders.

The engineer complimented this with another study of two small fixed lights for the points at Baña and Fangar on frameworks made of the same material. The following 12th October it is agreed, immediately kicking off the works, although the bad weather delayed the speed of the work. Shortly after, Ángel Camón presented a request for a further 3,500 reales for additional costs, because the labourers asked for increased wages due to the poor living conditions and distance from their families. The tower was built on a wooden hexagonal base. Its height was 10.31 above sea and 9.64 m above land, which elevated the focal plane to 11.10m above sea level. It rested on pillars driven into the ground with a pile driver, whose heads formed a plinth or platform of pieces of Holm oak joined mid wood.

On them were mounted six main beams which made up the body of the tower, whose vertical axle was made up of another piece of wood. The upper part or base of the truncated pyramid was held in place by way of crossbars that formed the flooring of the device and the projecting part upon which rested the hand rail that surrounded the illumination chamber. Six wire guy lines stabilised the joints and a hatch cut out of the upper floor allowed access to the lamp.

On 19th January 1860 the structure was completed and the assembly of the device began under the leadership of the lighthouse owner Juan Bassó. On the following 1st July it was finished and ready to be lit. Because of the difference in price and the superior lighting it presented, in the end a catadioptric device of 5th order instead of 6th order as was planned, was placed. It was lit for the first time on 15th September 1860 with a characteristic white fix and an 11 mile range. The device as well as the octagonal lantern covered in a white, spherical helmet and the illuminating lamps were purchased from the French house Henry Lepaute. The labourers house was a reed thatched cabin situated 10 fathoms southeast of the tower.

Paradoxically, this first light gave rise to some confusion. With regard to this the “Diario de Tarragona” of 12th January 1861 stated: “According to a reliable source, we have been informed that more than forty vessels have been stuck in the Entries of the Ebro, among them the steamers “Ebro" and “Dertosense”.

The first of these tried to pass through the Amposta Canal but could not because the locks were found to be taken apart. A schooner registered to Marseilles, of 105 tonnes, on its way to the Havre carrying 150 containers of oil and some packs of perfumery, had rushed into said entries in which it remains run aground.

It seems that the Captain mistook the lighthouse for the light of another ship, a mistake which lead to the disaster. In the name of truth we should state that we have heard from some sailors how easy it is to make the mistake made by the Captain of said vessel, due to the lighthouse lamp being of a fixed position and situated too far inland”. That the lighthouse was placed so far from the coast was always a compromise solution, because the location chosen was subject to the continuous changes in the ebb and flow typical to the mouth of a river the size of the Ebro.

Without going into detail, on 15th January 1862 the chief engineer of the province of Tarragona notified the Lighthouse Commission that the winter storms and those experienced in May had given rise to the disappearance of the beach next to the labourers’ cabin. This had been flooded by the waters, leaving it partially submerged and the pillars on which the wooden tower was placed had sunk. He added also that the labourers had had to move, leaving only the oil deposit in the lighthouse. A new communiqué from the same engineer dated 6th December 1862, gives an account of the complete destruction of the cabin and that the wooden frame that served as a support to the lighting device was found in the water.

He added that at its base there was an average depth of 1m, which made fixing the light, which had been extinguished since 24th November, impossible. The labourers had had to escape quickly in a launch towards the opposite bank due to the imminent danger that they saw themselves in. The wind was violent and the sea had invaded the whole area. To re-establish the provision of a lighthouse service, a small wooden house was built on a new point somewhat elevated from the edge of the sea.

With only enough room for a camp bed designated to the labourer in charge of watching the light and to house its more indispensable elements, it was lifted 2m above ground and rested on pillars. To reach the lighthouse a small wooden bridge was built, starting at the entrance to the house. Whilst this was happening, steps towards the placement of the permanent lighthouses were being taken.

Although Ángel Camón’s proposal of iron towers was not accepted, they served as a basis to a Royal Decree of 9th January 1860, for which an inspector named Lucio del Valle took charge. Commissioned by him in the City of London was the drawing up of the final projects for the three towers.

They would be made of an iron framework, mounted upon screw in pylons “Taking into account the information and news that could be gathered with regard to this type of construction”. Within the Royal Decree, Lucio Del Valle was granted the right to request prices from manufacturers from that country and to accept definite proposals. From facts taken from the memoirs of the above mentioned engineer published in the Public Works magazine of that era, we know that he took into account experiences gained from main transom or skeleton lighthouses, as they were called, built until that point. To begin with he justifies the good resistance of iron to atmospheric agents mentioning the English lighthouse at Maplind Sands, at which, despite its 22 years of age, had no evidence of corrosion, “….even in those lower parts which are constantly submerged, and therefore, cannot receive the painting that is given to the rest of the exterior".

This lighthouse, built by the Trinity House Corporation in 1841 and situated close to the mouth of the Thames, had been designed by Mr. Walker and was made up of 9 feet distributed one centrally and over the vertices of an octagon.

The tower and the building were found on the upper part. It was the first lighthouse where the coils for foundations on soft soil were tried out, although the first light that used them was at Port Fleetwood, in the north of England. Because of the similarities with Ángel Camón’s design for the Baña lighthouse it would seem that the Fleetwood light took its inspiration from him. Lucio del Valle chose forged iron rather than cast iron for the large part of the skeleton despite the better resistance that the latter has to oxidation. He argues for its better elasticity and performance with vibrations “…having accredited this sufficiently to the experience of the many towers that have been destroyed because of the breaking of the transoms made of cast iron” and he cites as examples the Minot’s Ledge lighthouse in the USA and the Archbishops Rock in Great Britain.
 

It is fair to say that Minot’s Ledge was the first of this kind to be built in America. At 24.20m tall it was situated on the Outer Minot rock at the entrance to the important Black Rock port. The design was charged to the engineer Captain W. H. Swift. It was intended to lessen the large number of shipwrecks that occurred in the area. It came into service in 1847 and only lasted three years. The report written by its architect gives us the best reference as to its disappearance: “On the night of Monday 14th April, the wind, which had been easterly for many days, gradually built up. On Tuesday it became a strong north easterly gale.

It continued to blow violently throughout Tuesday night, Wednesday, Thursday and even Friday; but the culmination of the storm was on Wednesday 16th when it reached the fury of a true hurricane. The light from Minot was last seen from Cohasset on Friday at 10pm. At exactly 1 o'clock on Thursday 17th the lighthouse bell could be heard from 1 ½ miles away. It was supposed that the opposing wind and high tide caused the water to be at its highest. This is generally the point at which it is believed that the lighthouse was destroyed because once there was daylight it could not be seen and so it was probably destroyed at the aforementioned point”. With it also went the lives of its two keepers whose bodies were never found. For its part the Bishop Rock lighthouse was erected on a reef situated 7 miles southeast of the Isles of Scilly on England's most westerly point. Of similar structure to those mentioned it disappeared in the middle of a great storm on the 5th February 1850 when the lamp and the optical device were still yet to be installed. The engineer also analyses the American lighthouse designed by Ángel Camón as a model, which he calls Coral Reef.

This lighthouse is situated at the entrance to Key port in Florida and was designed by Mr. Lewis from Philadelphia, which he said was made of 17 iron pylons of 0.20m in diameter, with spirals of 0.60m upon which are then erected the tubular cast iron transoms forming two concentric quadrangular pyramids, supported and braced within. The square-shaped labourers' housing was situated on the second level at a height of 10m above sea level. On the subject, he adds “… the way in which the engineer Lewis laid out the Key port lighthouse, indicates that he knew enough about the grave inconveniences of cast tubes, because you can see the determination with which he tried to lessen their use as much as possible through the design he adopted" affirming that he spent a large amount on the extra material used. Lucio del Valle gave the option to quote for the Buda lighthouse to various English manufacturers, informing them, among other things "that the one that presents the most beneficial quote will also be given the two smaller towers of Baña and Fangar, under the same conditions as the large one”.

To his requirements he received a response from Mr. Fredrick Johnson of London; Mr. George Rennié and Sons, from the same city; Mr. Cohrane and Co. from Woodside and Mr. Henderson Porter of Birmingham. It was the latter who was judged to have the more favourable quote to the amount of 22 pounds and 10 shillings per tonne including the woodwork. The contract was signed on the 30th April 1860 and the maximum completion time was set at four years with one further year extension. The materials and construction aspects communal to the three towers were: Superior quality forged English iron for the pillars, framework, joists and other metalwork and cast iron from the same place for those pieces that required it. Galvanised iron sheets for the exterior of the living quarters; the interior and the flooring of mature pine, with a maximum thickness of 7 inches on the walls and 9 inches on the floors. The use of Bielfield artificial panels was allowed for the curved areas of the Buda Lighthouse. The interior distribution was of panels reinforced with skirting, cornice and midlevel sash. The kitchen partitions were made of corrugated iron sheets to avoid fires. The use of nails was prohibited. The fixing was done exclusively using screws. The window panes and entrance door were English in style with wooden shutters. The total amount for the joint project of the three towers came to 546,480 copper reales, of which 388,800 corresponded to the Buda lighthouse for its weight of 187 tonnes. Within this amount were not included the lamp or the device purchased from the English company Chance Brothers. The latter added a further 187,258 reales to the total. Lucio del Valle considered the possibility of erecting the tower in the sea but the extra difficulties and expenditures, the belief that the river would demolish it half way through and the scarce benefits it held made him resist the temptation. In the end he placed it on terra firma, north of the provisional wooden lighthouse. It was lit for the first time on the 1st November 1864 and in its day it was the tallest of the metal lighthouses constructed in the world, surpassing by 7m that built by the Americans in Florida. It was an impressive iron tower crowned with a lamp that was accessed by a 365 step spiral staircase that rose through the interior of a pipe that served as its shaft.

As with almost all of its period, it began working with an olive oil lamp controlled by the so called piston and weight system of the Degrand make. It was looked after by three keepers. A descriptive hydrographic announcement informed sailors of its existence and entry into service in the following way: "The year 1864. The Buda Island Lighthouse is situated outside of and 1 cable in distance from the Cape of Tortosa, which is the lowest and furthest reaching part towards the eastern end of Buda Island. It has the following characteristics: Second order catadioptric device. White rotating light which flashes every minute. 20 Mile range. Land elevation of 51.5m. Latitude: 40º 45' 24'' N. Longitude: 7º 9' 15'' E. of the San Fernando Observatory. The tower is made of iron, of cylindrical shape and painted in a pastel pearl colour.

The transoms and vertices are painted in a dark lead. The lamp is green and the dome is white. It occupies the centre of the lighthouse keepers’ room which is also made of iron built at sea level and offers the sailors a view of two bodies, the upper is of a spherical shape with eight vents and the lower is in the shape of an inverted pyramid.

When the extension works are completed the room will continued to be built above sea level and will present three bodies: The middle will be octagonal, with a window on each side and will be shaped like an inverted pyramid at the bottom. The whole of the building will be placed in the centre of the mouth of the navigable arm of the Ebro, which is to say in the actual southern entry”. As explained in the announcement, shortly after the inauguration the extension works began with the addition of an extra central body. For this the Tarragona headquarters drafted a design signed 22nd March 1864 for its approval, which received confirmation on 28th May of the same year. to carry on these works, the following 13th October the engineer Amado de Lázaro, then responsible for the District of Tarragona, established a contract with the English manufacturer Porter, who had also carried out the building works on the lighthouse. Work was also carried out on the reef and the stalls. On 15th June 1863 the thatched cabins that had served as home and store to the workers on the iron tower were set alight. In the same way that had happened with the provisional lighthouse the waters flooded the site on various occasions. On the 23rd December 1872 the Chief Engineer of Tarragona first notified of the need to reinforce the Buda lighthouse with a reef, due to the changes that the river had experienced. The lighthouse was dependant upon being supplied twice a week by means of a boat from the city of Tortosa some 50km away. It lacked a water tender for the collection of water. Because of this it was necessary to transport and store it in barrels. The first modifications in the lighting came with the adaptation of the lamp to use paraffin. In 1914 this system was replaced by another using petroleum that glowed under pressure for binnacle covers of 85mm which was also acquired at Chance Brothers. Now fully immersed in civil war the illumination is ordered to stop until the 9th March 1939. Despite this, during the conflict it was occasionally lit to direct passing national convoys. When the Republicans found out they took it as ‘blanco’ machine-gunning it and trying to blow it up. With three less supports but still standing, in April 1938 they set fire to it using petroleum from the stores.

All the flammable parts burnt like tinder, helped by the enormous pull created by the tower tube but it remained erect. With the hostilities at an end its services were provisionally re-established with the installation of acetylene with Pintsch detailing with three burners and a fourteen mile range, but another inconvenience surfaces on the horizon. The sea advanced toward the tower removing the foundation of the pillars after having dragged the block defence that protected it and increased the regression of the Delta at this point.

A Ministerial Order on 28th February 1949 tried to solve the problem with the following measures: Firstly, placing a new lighthouse 55m high with a forty mile range, with white flashing light on the left side of the Muntells de Tramontana; secondly, placing a changeable lightweight beacon on the present tower in case of changes in the coastline, twenty metres high with a twenty mile range and a flashing red colour. Thirdly, place a fog horn on the beacon with a five mile range. Ten years pass and everything stays the same. On the 29th December 1959 a strong wind combined with the river rising destroys and drags away the battery house of the Buda lighthouse leaving it without power. The situation is now grievous: The sea surrounded it making it extremely difficult to get close.

Only two of the beams that surrounded and peripherally supported the pillars remained, and resistance of the metal parts was almost nil. Now as an alternative to building a new lighthouse on the existing foundations they studied the possibility of building it from scratch. The difference between the 10,762,030 pesetas cost for rebuilding and the 1,806,280.04 of a new concrete tower swayed the decision to favour the latter.

The justifiable arguments that had been put forward by Lucio del Valle in his day, favouring an iron tower due to its ability to be dismantled and moved if necessary, and also due to the good result of the Mitchell coils in supporting it on soft soil, were not taken into account.

A provisional light upon a tubular tower, with a short range open flamed acetylene installation, substituted the old lighthouse which had been unable to survive a new storm and collapsed on Christmas Eve 1961, after having resisted the elements for almost one hundred years. A good example of what the old lighthouse represented for the inhabitants of the Delta and the feelings that its collapse produced, is well described in "Elegía pel Far de Buda" that Sebastián Juan Arbó wrote at the time: ".....to many the news of its collapse will not have had any effect; however for me how many memories!.

During my childhood it was customary from time to time to take trips to the lighthouse. We would go by paddle steamer usually in the spring, and few journeys could be compared in beauty to a trip down the Ebro... The lighthouse was then so far inland that you couldn't see the sea from it. We'd eat at the foot of the lighthouse... then we would climb to the top using the neverending staircase and we would marvel at the immense panorama of the shores. The enclosed fields scattered with huts, with the Ebro with its twists and turns running through the centre that came to die at the foot of the lighthouse. ON the other side we could see the vast expanse of the sea...

the memory, above all, of evenings when its light was cast over the horizon, night after night in the calm and in the storm. Many writers have sung to the lighthouses… I have also sung to the lighthouses and I have done this with the Buda lighthouse, symbolic to me of all lighthouses…­­" While the lighthouse collapsed, in 1962 a short lived 48 metre high construction was completed next to it, with a small 12 x 12 metre hut for the machinery, a room with bunk beds and a small kitchen in which the acetylene light was found. Meanwhile the laying of an electric cable went ahead along with the installation of a lamp with an aero maritime dome three metres in diameter.

The unfortunate choice of location and the inconvenience of its foundation were immediately evident. Only one year later a report from Central Inspection warned of the immediate danger to the lighthouse posed by the advancing waters. Despite the defensive works carried out in 1965, the foundations gave way, the lighthouse tilted and the structure came down after hardly ever having provided service

Anticipating a collapse the Ministerial Order in 1963 ordered the design of another project which was presented two years later. In it was proposed the building of a great lighthouse 60.6 metres high, with white flashing light and a forty mile range, equipped with a radio signal four kilometres further inland from the previous and a concrete buoy 20 metres high with a 10 mile range, flashing red light and a fog horn of five mile range, situated on the fallen structure. Ten years later and possible solutions were still being debated. Firstly a floating lighthouse was planned with a seventeen mile range and a LAMBY fog horn which was put out to competition that was then declared void for only having received one offer of 89,600,000 pesetas. Soon after (1978), Tarragona Headquarters presented a series of alternatives for the building of a platform, to which the Maritime Signals Service responded ordering the study of an oscillating buoy.

At last in June 1980 the existence of available equipment was discovered in the port of San Carles de la Rápita to carry out the building of a marine platform at a cost of 20,412,000 pesetas, similar to the oscillating buoy and straight away the project, which is in place today, was started. It consists of a 16 m2 hexagonal platform which is 7.3 metres high supported by a tripod made up of three steel pillars which are set into the sea bed at a depth of twenty metres.

The works were carried out by the SOTOMAR company and were received on 1st March 1983. Upon the platform the Valencian Machinist built a tower made of metal, with photoelectric installation with a permanent supply from a 500mm diameter polished glass optical AGA, insulated white flashing lights with a 14 mile range and a radar reflector.

The electric flasher was from the Balizamar, model TE-PJ-24 made up of a pair of flashing lights, one for emergency use. An automatic 4 bulb changer was also available from the same company, using 24V 250w multifilament Elva bulbs of concentrated beam, Twelve 2V 1856 A/h TUDOR 16-EAN-100 battery elements, clear glass housing, twelve 12V 40w HOLEC HS-40 solar panels for the main light and an Indecon 500w marine charge regulator. It was lit for the first time on 4th October 1983. To combat the frequent fog in the area, on 31st July 1985 it began to function automatically at dawn and dusk (at between 300 and 20 lux) a small fog horn with an Optimus ARB-25 amplifier, a sequential generator from the same company and three 15w speakers. It was fed by six 12V AEG PQ-5/410 panels and 12V 100A Tudor battery. In September 1988 the first Spanish remote supervision lighthouse project is completed in Tarragona.

With the supervision centre installed in the San Carlos lighthouse, the project was awarded to the company Hispano Radio Marítima for 22,000,000 pesetas.

The Cape Tortosa installation consisted of a computer, a radio modem with 5w power, various sensors and a photoelectric feed system made up of six photoelectric 40w Holec panels, twelve 2V Tudor stationary battery elements and an ATERSA charge regulator. Results were not good due to its high consumption the experience served as basis for another more modern system that was introduced countrywide.

n 23rd November 1995 a draft specification of characteristics under the title "The supply of necessary equipment for the installation of a remote supervision system for the maritime signals dependent on the Port Authority of Tarragona” was sent along with another regarding installation of said equipment dated 22nd of the same month. Both were awarded to the company Page Ibérica, S.A. for the respective amounts of 21,341,108 pesetas and 8,475,268 pesetas.

After a trial period it came into service on 4th April 1998 and serves to supervise the working, controlling and commanding of all the lighthouses of the province, from a central control found on the 4th floor of the Port Control building situated on the Catalonia Dock of the Port of Tarragona. On the 8th September 1997 the RACON radar buoy, which had until then been situated on the Levante Dock of the Port of Tarragona, began to work provisionally with the siren removed. It has the following characteristics: Code: Letter “T”; Length of code proportional. Quick frequency, S and X band. Work Cycle 20 on, 10 off. Sector of operation 360º. 15 nautical mile range. Height over sea level 19m. Once it had passed all the tests its status was confirmed by a resolution from the President of the Ports of the State dated 12th May of the following year signifying an important reinforcement for the safety of the area. Located in a place very exposed to the weather and the movement of the sea, since it came into service there have been two significant sets of repairs. The first for the amount of 11,000.000 pesetas was awarded to Sotomar, the same company that had built it, and was completed in October 1993.

The work consisted of the replacement of 2 of the staircase, the repair and replastering of the jetties and the painting of the lighthouse. The second was charged to Sondomar, was completed in May 1998 and consisted of the taking apart of the jetties which were taken ashore to be recovered with polyester and fibreglass, the replacement of the jetty tracks and the mooring stairs and of the first section of stairs with a new stainless steel set and the painting of the structure. The total cost of the different parts of the project, including 2,385,000 pesetas for damage to the stairs during a storm, came to 9,743,250 pesetas. Since the second Buda lighthouse fell and so as not to leave the area without a beacon whilst a final decision was being made, at the mouth of the Ebro a provisional tubular metal tower 21 metres high was built supported by 4 sets of 2 guys. Painted in black and white stripes and equipped with an acetylene gas installation which would later be substituted by a photoelectric device. At the foot of the tower a rectangular hut was built and painted white. Originally it was there to house the batteries and later on the batteries for the photoelectric system and the equipment for the first remote control system.

With the building of the platform lighthouse at Cape Tortosa its removal was considered to which the fishermen of the area were opposed because of the great service it gave when navigating the entrance to the Ebro.

Corroded and in a bad way, in 1995 it was substituted by a new modular stainless steel tower AISI-316 which was bought from the Maquinista Valenciana for 6,500,000 pesetas keeping the technical equipment of the old beacon. Made up of a Tideland white acrylic 300mm lamp, with automatic 6 bulb changer, 36w bulbs photoelectric panels and batteries. As in the rest of the beacons of the Delta, the remote control system was replaced by another similar to the one described at the Cape Tortosa lighthouse.