Conillera – Conejera lighthouse

Technical data
History
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Lighthouses in sight

Technical data

Latitude N 38.993789000000

Longitude E 1.212595000000

Nominal range 18 nautical miles

Height above sea level 85 m.

Light pattern Groups of 4 flashes every 20 seconds.

Daytime appearance White tower and building. Height 18 m.

History

Designed by Emili Pou. Building work was begun in 1855 by the same contractor who went on to build Botafoc lighthouse. When it was opened it employed a 2nd order optic manufactured by Henri Lepaute with a signal pattern consisting of prolonged occultations and flashes at one minute intervals. The lantern had a diameter of 3 metres. The whole assembly cost a total of 48,915 francs, of which 16,200 were for the lantern, 450 for the packaging and the remainder for the optic and the lamps. It was first lit on November 19, 1857. The tower originally had a circular base but later two buildings were added as extensions to the keepers’ living quarters. At first it used an olive oil burning lamp which was then adapted to burn paraffin and petrol. In 1928 a new optical system was installed which consisted of a set of rotating lenses sitting in a mercury flotation bath and the light pattern was changed to emit a signal of four white flashes. In 1971 the whole light apparatus was totally changed. The new mechanism used acetylene gas and at the same time modifications were made to the tower, the lantern was changed and the lighthouse was automated. Since that time the lighthouse has been uninhabited. At first the lighthouse had a lighter service, crewed by two mariners who lived on the island. This service, as was the case of other lighthouses in the Islands, was then put out for public tender and the mariners went to live at Sant Antoni. Two weekly trips had to be made to carry transport supplies, as well as the lighthouse keepers and their families. In emergencies the lighthouse keepers would make optical signals either using a mirror or unfurling a white flag. In such cases, weather permitting, the seamen would have to come quickly from Sant Antoni to help.

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