Tag: Playa Blanca

This is a lighthouse to the west of Playa Blanca on the island of Lanzarote. This was my first time to visit the lighthouse and it was very windy. My camera resting on an unextended tripod almost blew over! Then there are the tourists, who insist on driving right up to the building and parking there with their headlights on. It can be rough on a photographer sometimes. 🙂

The original lighthouse which was designed by the engineer Juan de León y Castillo opened in 1866, and consists of a 10 metres (33 ft) tower at the front of a single storey keeper’s house. It was deactivated in 1988, following the construction of the new lighthouse, and in 2002 was registered as a Bien de Interés Cultural in the listing for Las Palmas.

The new lighthouse built from white stone, is one of the tallest lighthouses in the Canaries at 50 metres (160 ft) in height, being superseded only by Maspalomas lighthouse on Gran Canaria at 56 metres (184 ft), and the 59 metres (194 ft) Morro Jable lighthouse on Fuerteventura.
With a focal height of 55 metres (180 ft) above the sea, its light can be seen for 17 nautical miles, and consists of three flashes of white light every thirty seconds. In conjunction with the lights at Tostón and Punta Martiño, it marks the narrow La Bocayna strait that separates the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
Punta Pechiguera is a barren promontory of volcanic rocks; originally quite isolated it is now being encroached upon by coastal developments from the Playa Blanca resort. A coastal walkway links the lighthouse with the centre of the resort, the majority of which consists of a paved promenade or esplanade (Spanish: paseo maritimo) along the seafront.