Faro de Chipiona

The lighthouse of Chipiona is the tallest in Spain, the third tallest in Europe and the fifth in the world. It was built in Punta del Perro between 1863 and 1867 by the civil engineer Jaime Font Escolá. It stands at a height of approximately 69 metres from its base: its tower measuring 62 metres and the building on which it stands measuring 7 metres. The hollow tower, with its spiral staircase and its walls made of shell limestone, has 344 steps. The building is in masonry.

In the covered courtyard at the entrance to the building, a small exhibition comprising several panels describes marine signals, the working of the lighthouse, its characteristics, its importance for navigation, the navigable channel, and, finally, the activity of the Port of Seville. The tour continues to the lighthouse light. The view from the 360º outer gallery that crowns the tower covers a very wide area of both sea and land. This tour is exceptional inasmuch as it is a working lighthouse and access up to the light is not allowed at other existing ones in either Spain or in the rest of Europe.

One of the features of the Chipiona lighthouse is the fact that it has been an aeromarine lighthouse since 1963. Its beam of light illuminates both horizontally and vertically, making it useful for aircraft. Today, its beam reaches a distance of 25 nautical miles (45 km), and flashes every 10 seconds.

The Chipiona lighthouse has belonged to the Seville Port Authority since 1 January 1993; it is a landfall lighthouse, ones which boats should head towards as opposed to the danger ones that are to be passed by because they indicate rocky areas or a coastal outcrop, etc. So a boat that aims to reach Seville along the Guadalquivir must take the Chipiona lighthouse as a reference point.