Whether it is a cargo terminal, a yacht club, a luxury marina or a waste collection service, the facilities and services of Spanish ports are subject to a public concession. This is due to the fact that Spanish law establishes that both the land and sea areas where port activity takes place are State property. Therefore, they constitute a public domain, and cannot be sold or seized, although they may be occupied and their use can be conceded to the private sector for a specific period of time paying the corresponding fees.

These services subject to concession include port services, such as berthing, loading and unloading, stowage, pilotage and towing, repairs, supplies (water, fuel, electricity, cleaning, etc.), and commercial services: hotel and catering or nautical sports and leisure activities, among others; some with high added value, such as those linked to luxury nautical sports, a booming sector with a high economic impact on port hinterland (area of influence).

Among the services subject to a concession are those relating to the port itself and commercial services

For each case, the awarding of port services and activities is carried out through legal authorisation, for those that do not require permanent infrastructures, and for a maximum of three years, or through a public concession, at the request of the applicant or at the initiative of the port authority. The duration of concessions is very important to the operation of the port system, as applicants must make a long-term plan, propose new investments and assume all financial risks in compliance with the parameters established by current legislation.

Since 2015, Ineco has been providing technical support to Puertos del Estado for the analysis of the files subject to these extensions. More than 300 extension requests have been submitted to 28 port authorities.

Port of Valencia pilots’ base. / PHOTO_VALENCIAPORT

Since the start of the project, Puertos del Estado has coordinated meetings with the different port authorities together with Ineco and has participated in the preliminary work to standardise the criteria for processing the requests for extension of deadlines, in order to improve the analysis and speed up the drafting and issuing of reports.

It should be noted that, due to the procedure carried out, and reviewed at the end by Puertos del Estado with the company’s support, concessionaires are making significant investments to improve the productivity and environmental quality of their operations, by introducing new technologies that increase their competitiveness in the ports.

Ineco also provides technical assistance for land valuations, reports on the concessionary use of lighthouses and advice on the management of extensions.

More involvement of the private sector

In addition to extending the maximum limit of the concessions, Royal Decree Law 8/2014 has also made other changes in the management of Spanish ports, which open up new ways of participation for the private sector. Among them, a new case of extraordinary extension associated with the funding of port connectivity infrastructures and improvement of freight transport networks, as well as the creation of the Financial Fund for Land Access to Ports. With these measures, the extension of the concessions is linked to the contribution of the successful bidders to the improvement of land connections to ports, promoting their intermodality, one of the main axes of national and European transport policies.

Another of the novelties of the 2014 regulatory change was the lifting of the ban on the use of certain disused port infrastructures located within the public port domain, such as lighthouses, for hotel, hostel or accommodation purposes. Puertos del Estado launched the project ‘Spanish Lighthouses’ (see ITRANSPORTE 60) in 2015 to give new complementary uses to part of these facilities such as the lighthouse keepers’ dwellings, without affecting their operation as maritime signalling elements, while ensuring their conservation as historical heritage. Therefore, 187 lighthouses throughout Spain were analysed and inventoried for this purpose. Ineco developed the website that gives visibility to the initiative, and the platform on which the inventory can be accessed.

Ineco organised a visit to the port of Valencia, in coordination with the Directorate of Operations of Puertos del Estado, to know in detail its operation and internal structure.

Although some of them already had facilities such as exhibition halls, training or research centres or cafeterias, until 2014 none of them had been converted into tourist accommodation, as has already been done in other European countries, the USA, Chile, South Africa or Australia. As part of the port public domain, the refurbishment and operation of the former lighthouse keepers’ dwellings is subject to a public concession, pending the approval of the corresponding port authority. The Isla Pancha Lighthouse, in Lugo was the first to be converted into a hotel in 2017, followed by Punta Cumplida, in Tenerife, in 2020, through a 35-year public concession awarded to the German company Floatel. In the meantime, half a dozen other similar projects are still in the pipeline throughout Spain.

Ineco is supporting the Santander Port Authority in the maintenance of its integrated quality and environmental management system (IQEMS), whose work includes updating the port’s environmental standards.

The company is collaborating in the implementation and certification of the PERS (Port Environmental Review System), a specific methodology for environmental management systems in the port sector, and EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme), a voluntary environmental management and audit scheme introduced by the European Union.

Ineco will also carry out maintenance work until 2025, including the annual environmental statement and the biennial PERS report. Ineco will also provide support in the drafting of the Sustainability Report and a Sustainability Plan to be developed during the contract period.

The port of Ceuta, one of the two Spanish autonomous cities, together with Melilla, located in North Africa, is the country’s fourth busiest port in terms of regular passenger traffic: 2.1 million passengers and nearly half a million vehicles per year, according to 2019 figures from the Ceuta Port Authority. Due to its peculiar geography –with a surface area of only 19 km² and its location on the Almina peninsula, between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic– the sea provides the primary means of connection with the rest of Spain and supplies for the city, which receives all kinds of goods and basic supplies, such as building materials, fuel and even water. The port is also a transit area for cross-border goods traffic between Morocco and Europe.

The terminal is the first and last thing that passengers arriving or leaving by sea will see, which makes it an emblematic building for the city

Although the city has had a heliport belonging to the Aena network since 2004, where regular flights to Melilla, Algeciras and Málaga operate, the high-speed ferry is the main means of passenger transport. Three shipping companies –Armas, FRS and Balearia– currently offer numerous daily connections for passengers and vehicles between Ceuta and Algeciras.

The port has two breakwaters, measuring 1,500 metres and 500 metres long, known as the Poniente and Levante docks, respectively. Inside the harbour there are two main quays: perpendicular to the coast, the Spain quay, where the control tower is located and where the first passenger terminal was built, and the Cañonero Dato quay, where the maritime station was moved in the 1970s and four ferry berths were built. The port also has a marina and fishing harbour, as well as a dry dock.

Location of the maritime terminal of the port of Ceuta and operations area. / IMAGE_INECO

The terminal is therefore the first and last thing that passengers see when they arrive or leave by sea, which makes it an emblematic building for the city, barely one kilometre from the centre and four kilometres from the Moroccan border. Although various reforms and works have been carried out over the years, the passage of time, the increase in maritime traffic, changes in infrastructure legislation and, above all, the challenge of reinforcing security in the face of global risks such as terrorism, among others, have made it necessary to remodel and expand the facilities.

As a result, in 2017, the Ceuta Port Authority commissioned a feasibility study for the new terminal, which produced three main conclusions: the need to double the surface area, the need for a new pre-boarding hall and the need to separate the flows of embarking and disembarking passengers –which is not currently the case– for security reasons. In 2019, it contracted Ineco to study the possible alternatives and draft the preliminary design and subsequent construction project for the new maritime station, including car parks and accesses, which was completed in October 2020.

Existing facilities

The existing terminal has an estimated maximum traffic capacity of four million passengers and one million vehicles. In addition to the passenger building, it has four berths for ships, RO-RO ramps for loading and unloading cars and lorries, and an esplanade with a capacity for 900 vehicles, with separate boarding and disembarking areas. Between these two areas are the ticket and police control facilities, and at the end of the disembarking area, the Guardia Civil’s tax service checkpoint, which carries out customs inspections.

The existing passenger terminal is a T-shaped building with two floors, each covering approximately 2,500 m². The rear façade faces the quay, where the fixed and mobile boarding bridges (fingers) and the road for vehicles are located, while the main façade gives access to an open space with landscaped areas and parking for coaches. On one side are the taxi stand and a public car park, and on the other, the road for vehicle boarding and a private car park, which will be moved, since the new terminal planned by Ineco will be located on this plot.

The new terminal

The project includes the construction of a new passenger building adjacent to the existing one, improvements to two of the berths and their access galleries (the other two are not included since they have recently been renovated) and the reorganisation and arrangement of car parks and accesses. The estimated completion time for the works is 24 months.

PROYECTO BÁSICO DE ADECUACIÓN DE LA ESTACIÓN DE PORT AVENTURA A ESTACIÓN TERMINAL

In terms of equipment, modern systems for water and electricity supply, sanitation, fire protection, security and CCTV and telecommunications will be installed.

The building will connect with the existing terminal on the inside at several points, and on the outside, a large canopy more than 46 metres long will be installed to provide aesthetic unity to the complex and give travellers a sheltered route to the taxi stand. From the land side, the main entrance is located on the southeast façade, near the existing entrance. There will also be three other secondary accesses, for restricted use and for use as emergency exits.

The new maritime station is designed to completely separate incoming and outgoing passenger flows, a key security aspect

From a functional point of view, the new maritime station is designed to completely separate incoming and outgoing passenger flows, a key security aspect. This is the case with the layout of the two floors of the building: the ground floor opens onto a large lobby that divides the terminal into two distinct areas: on the one hand, a public space, with a double-height ceiling, which houses the access to the upper floor, the check-in, areas, restrooms and commercial area; and on the other, a large area for restricted use, distributed around an internal courtyard that provides light and ventilation for the space, while remaining out of travellers’ sight. This area contains the new premises for the National Police and Guardia Civil, installation rooms and other facilities.

The upper floor connects with the access galleries to the ship berths. It contains the pre-boarding and boarding lounges, which include an authorities’ lounge, and between the two, the passenger control area, which is connected to the security forces’ offices on the lower floor and is equipped with baggage scanners, document control points and search and X-ray rooms.

Meanwhile, disembarking passengers will have direct access from the gangways to the ground floor concourse (via the shopping area) and from there to the outside. The entire floor is therefore configured in such a way that passenger flows never cross. Three stairwells and two lift shafts are planned, which are distributed so as to allow independent access to the different areas of the terminal.

The construction project also includes improvements to berths and access galleries 3 and 4, which will consist mainly of replacing flooring and suspended ceilings, new lighting, removal of elements that are no longer in use, such as luggage belts and old HVAC equipment, to leave more free space in the corridors, the renovation of enclosures and metal structures and installation of seating and rest areas. Accessibility will also be improved with tactile-visual paving and double handrails with identification plaques in Braille on the ramps connecting the walkway to the boarding area. In terms of urban development and parking, pedestrian and vehicle flows will be rearranged and prioritised so that there are no intersections. There are two public car parks for about 280 vehicles, drop-off zones and taxi stands for 25 vehicles, seven bus bays, an area for emergency vehicles and an area for loading and unloading. The private car park, with 48 parking spaces, will be located adjacent to the south façade.

A profitable project for society

Ineco has carried out an assessment to determine the socio-economic benefits of the new maritime terminal.

By Carmen Araújo, bachelor in Economic Sciences (Ineco)

PHOTO_KAINITA-FLICKR (WIKIPEDIA)

The cost-benefit analysis or socio-economic evaluation is a technique that enables the net contribution of the project to the overall welfare of society as a whole to be measured in monetary terms. In order to determine the net social benefit of the new maritime terminal in the port of Ceuta, the flow of benefits and costs generated over a period of analysis has been compared with a baseline situation (without the project), which is taken as the basis for the analysis.

With the increased capacity and floor space of the new building, both the functionality and security of the terminal are expected to be improved. Although the project aims to increase the port of Ceuta’s passenger handling capacity, it is not expected to have a significant effect in terms of attracting or generating traffic. Therefore, one of the main assumptions is that the main people who will be affected by the project are the users of the port, mainly the passengers on the Ceuta-Algeciras line.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFITABILITY.

The results obtained indicate positive final results for the socio-economic evaluation, even if they are based on conservative assumptions. The benefits resulting from the time savings in boarding are high enough to offset the increased operating costs and pay for the initial investment required. From a socio-economic point of view, an IRR (Internal Rate of Return) higher than the discount rate of 3.0% has been obtained, therefore, it offers a positive NPV (Net Present Value), which ensures the profitability of the project and confirms its timing.

The Málaga Port Authority has commissioned Ineco to prepare a dedicated study on the condition of the crest wall of the Levante breakwater, and to draw up a plan for its repair. The tasks to be carried out include a comparative analysis of the condition of other crest walls of the same structural type, along with an analysis of the repairs that have been done to them and their current condition. Preliminary studies have concluded that higher than anticipated levels of environmental aggression have reduced the structure’s useful life.

The Port Authority of Valencia has commissioned Ineco to map the internal rail network and sidings for the project of the Port of Sagunto, which includes a new general cargo terminal and a vehicle terminal, both electrified, and security and communications facilities.

In April, Adif also awarded the works for the new freight rail access, whose project was also designed by the company in 2019; three branches totalling 5.6 kilometres, for 750 metre trains to connect Sagunto with the Mediterranean and Cantabrian-Mediterranean Corridors.

Sagunto is the major steel port in Spain and also handles considerable volumes of gas, vehicles, containers and bulk solid cargo.

With a single-track and mixed type branch line, mostly electrified, the new 8.3-kilometre long southern railway access is part of the activities performed by MITMA (Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda) to promote rail freight transport in Spain. Until now, the port facilities and railway network had been connected by a non-electrified single-track branch, which starts at the Las Palmas stop, north of Castellón station. This 6.8-kilometre branch runs through urban areas and has 19 level crossings, reducing its operational effectiveness.

Ineco’s project aims to connect the port of Castellón to the El Serrallo industrial estate and to the Mediterranean Corridor. Three types of track are used: on ballast in land sections; embedded slab track in the tunnel section between walls and in the pergola area under CV-183; and interlaced track in the inside the port.

The new railway access addresses the increase in freight traffic caused by the expansion of the south basin. The port of Castellón is located in one of the region’s economic activity

The port of Castellón is located in the Grao de Castellón area, approximately four kilometres from the city centre. The expansion and consequent increase in freight traffic in the south basin led to the decision to develop a new railway access through this area.

The Port Authority awarded Ineco the drafting of the project to develop this infrastructure, which is vital for the port’s competitiveness and growth. The company had previously drawn up the projects for the inland network (phase one of the south basin rail network and connecting rail bridge between the south and north basins).

The port of Castellón represents about 5% of the freight traffic of all mainland ports in Spain. / PHOTO_PORTCASTELLÓ

The project includes the construction of a new electrical traction substation to meet the operational needs of the new rail access. It will be housed in a prefabricated building with concrete panels and will supply power for traction, signalling and communications.

In addition to the construction of the new single-track railway platform, the assembly of the superstructure and catenary, and the new substation, the project also includes other associated works such as: the construction of underpasses and overpasses, drainage works, replacement of easements, building demolitions, civil protection facilities and quality controls.

The new branch will allow more rail traffic, offering a more competitive and sustainable transport alternative

The work is accompanied by a series of activities relating to noise pollution in the project completion and operating phases. These measures include carrying out an annual measurement study during the first three years, as well as an acoustic and vibration study and the installation of noise barriers in various sections.

Map showing the location of the port and area of operation.

The port of Castellón

The port of Castellón is located in a very busy area of the region and is one of the drivers of economic growth and employment in the city. It is the ninth largest of Spain’s 46 general-use ports and fourth in terms of solid bulk. In recent years the port of Castellón has improved its infrastructure by modernising machinery and different facilities at the quays. Beside the port is the El Serrallo industrial estate, with large companies from the petrochemical and energy sectors, and one of the largest industrial centres in the Valencia Region.

Ineco’s projects

Location map of the southern access.

Ineco’s projects cover the actions for the development of the new southern branch to the port of Castellón, and include the platform and superstructure of a single 8,295-metre long general track and five interoperable mixed-gauge switches, with a total of 6,230 metres of electrified track, and one electric substation. In addition, four underpasses, two overpasses, a cut-and-cover tunnel between walls, a pergola and two structures on the Barranco de Fraga channel to support a bypass, and a railway viaduct will also be built.

Ineco is planning a complete remodelling of the maritime station in the port of Ceuta, through which 2 million passengers pass every year. The Port Authority has commissioned Ineco to draft the preliminary design (including a study of alternatives) and the construction project for the re-arrangement and enlargement of the terminal spaces, which were last renovated in the 1990s. The objective is to increase the functionality and safety of the facilities, by separating passenger flows. It also includes the remodelling of car parks, and the complete renovation of one of the city’s most emblematic buildings. The drafting of the project started at the end of 2019 and has an execution period of ten and a half months.

In January 2018, one of the Port of Valencia’s piers (the Príncipe Felipe) received the largest container ship in its history: the MSC Eloane, a vessel with a length of 400 metres, draught of 16 metres and maximum capacity of 19,472 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). The use of containers has revolutionised the transportation of freight on a global scale since they were first used in 1956 on a voyage between New York and Houston in a former World War II tanker that carried 58 containers on deck.

The use of containers has revolutionised the transportation of goods on a global scale since they were first used in 1956 on a voyage between New York and Houston

This is a trifling number compared to today’s stratospheric figures: the Port of Valencia, ranked first in Spain for this type of traffic, beat its own record in 2018 with 5.1 million containers, which places it in 30th position in the world in a fiercely-competitive market. Shipping companies are building larger and larger vessels because the greater the volume of freight transported at one time, the lower the costs, according to the principle of economy of scale.

Giants of the sea

In the 1950s, the capacity of the first container ships ranged from 500 to 800 TEU; today’s Triple-E (economy of scale, energy efficient and environmentally improved) ships belonging to the world’s largest shipping company, Maersk, have a capacity for up to 19,000 TEU.

This escalation in the size of ships has had global repercussions: they became too wide for the Panama Canal, requiring it to be enlarged to accommodate them, and the 20 or so ports around the world that have sufficient capacity to receive these ships have had to be adapted. The size of the cranes used to load and unload containers has also had to be increased, which in turn has led to the need to reinforce piers to support these structures, which can weigh between 1,600 and 1,800 tonnes.

The Port of Valencia handled 5.1 million containers in 2018, making it the number one port in Spain for this kind of traffic

This is the case with the Port of Valencia, which in 2017 undertook a strategic project: to increase the water depth of the Levante Pier to 17 metres and reinforce its foundation to install new 100-foot cranes (30.4 metres, which refers to the distance between the legs of the structure), compared to the existing 50-foot cranes. Ineco, which began providing services to the Port Authority almost two decades ago, was this time responsible for technical assistance services involving the monitoring and supervision of the works and coordination of health and safety.

This first project was followed by two others: works to increase the water depth of the central section of the Príncipe Felipe Pier and the coastal transversal pier (currently in execution and also involving Ineco), both part of the southern expansion of the Port of Valencia and with the objective of reaching a water depth of 18 metres at the foot of the pier.

The Levante Pier works in detail

The works, which lasted just over eight months, were executed along a 600-metre section at the south-east end of the pier, next to the Llovera Pier. The main works, which were carried out without disrupting port activity, were as follows:

• Reinforcement of the pier
  To reinforce the ground, the superjet technique (high-pressure jet grouting) was used, consisting of injecting reinforcement material at high pressure (in this case, air+cement grout), which mixes with existing material, thus increasing its bearing capacity. A screen of secant jet grouting columns was executed and arranged in a staggered pattern in two rows, from the foot of the sea side of the pier. The injected columns were executed down to the firm gravel layer, in other words, improving only the cohesive layers of the ground under the foundations of the pier at about a depth of 17 metres. To assess effectiveness, geophysical sounding techniques were used before and after the reinforcement treatment.
• Increase of water depth
  The level of the bottom was lowered to increase the water depth from the existing 14.3 and 16.7 metres to 17 metres to accommodate container ships.
• Superstructures
  On the capping beam, two sections of the pier’s plain concrete superstructure were demolished, and a new reinforced concrete one was built, including a services gallery equipped with manholes and an enclosure to house the rail of the front leg of the crane, which was replaced with a type A120. On the rear beam, which supports the rear leg, a reinforced concrete beam was built along the entire length of the pier on a row of piles one metre in diameter embedded into the bottom and equipped with an A150 rail.
• Piering and mooring element
  The existing system of C-type fenders on the mooring line of the pier was replaced with a system of SC 1150H class A double fenders. The existing mooring system on the pier was completed with the placement of 150-ton bollards.
• Replacement of services
  As a result of the execution of the works, the mains services that run through the area had to be replaced: drinking and fire-protection water, electricity and communications and lighting.

Is the future of lighthouses at risk?

Not at all. As a aid to navigation, they continue to serve as a unique point of reference for a large number of smaller vessels, as well as a verification point, and when necessary, a backup for electronic positioning systems.

Obviously, they are not as crucial as they were years ago, but advances in lighting technology and control, reducing consumption and monitoring their operation, make it viable to keep the lighthouse in service, and more efficiently than before.

With regard to the buildings that are not in use, normally the homes of the former lighthouse keepers, it is vital to create initiatives that ensure their conservation, and in many cases their refurbishment.

Have any new lighthouses been built in Spain?

The last one was put into service at the end of 1999, the Torredembarra lighthouse, which is attached to the Tarragona Port Authority. However, in the Canary Islands there are some lighthouses still to be built, as a result of the last review of the coastal networks, and these have already been included, in one way or another, in the General Maritime Signalling Plan, 1985.

However, to answer your question, yes. Due to the expansion of the Port of Valencia, the Valencia lighthouse has been replaced by a new one, made of composite (composite resin), on the new breakwater, with an LED optical system and hybrid solar-wind power, designed to operate using clean energy.

What will the lighthouses of the future be like?

Understanding a lighthouse as a maritime light signal supplemented by the landmark represented by the tower during the day, I don’t believe that they will change much from the classic image, although glass lenses and incandescent lamps will no longer be used. The lighthouses of the future, and already in the present, will be supplemented with the broadcasting of electronic information, using, for example, Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology.

It is important to remember that lighthouses are technical installations designed to provide a service, which will use the technology available at any given time, and which the users are capable of “seeing”, either directly or with the help of instruments.

Many lighthouses are over one hundred years old, is modern technology compatible with their design?

Most are more than 150 years old. They date back to the first Maritime Signalling Plan of 1847, which marks its 170th anniversary this year. We just celebrated the 175th anniversary of the first session of the Spanish Lighthouse Commission (22 February 1842), which was created on 4 February of that year.

It is vital that we all work to ensure the conservation of the historical legacy of the lighthouses

Their design is simple and that simplicity guarantees its validity. It involves placing a light at a certain height (depending on the height of the land) so that it can be seen by sailors from a distance of between 10-20 nautical miles. The tower is the support and the lantern is the glassed space that protects the lens system (lamp and lens). The new lamp technology does have to adapt to the requirements of large glass optics, but it is possible, and desirable, to maintain the existing optical elements and upgrade the lamp to the technology available. In most cases it is simple and inexpensive.

Are there still lighthouse keepers? What role do they play these days?

It’s not the case for lighthouse keepers, but there are lighthouses that are inhabited by a technician who is not exclusively dedicated to the maintenance of the lighthouse, but is also responsible for monitoring other aids to navigation in the vicinity, as well as inspecting third-party aids in the area. They are not civil servants; they belong to the staff of the port authority.

How will the commercialization of these spaces contribute to their conservation?

The existence of unused spaces creates two major problems: on the one hand, degradation in the harsh environment, and on the other, the risk of vandalism. Therefore, since it is not necessary for technicians to be present at all times in the lighthouses, the development of their supplementary uses is a successful alternative to conserve them through the vital renovations required to develop new uses.

On the other hand, the income generated by these uses, which will never be significant in the port sector, will be a supplement to the revenues collected from the aid to navigation service fee and will allow the quality of the aid to navigation service, which will always be the goal of the lighthouses, to be improved.

What are the risks and advantages?

I think the advantages have already been discussed in the previous questions, in addition to the fact that opening these lighthouse spaces, which are currently closed, to society in general, would maintain their function and exterior architecture, as a reflection of their historical legacy, which, among other things, has to be conserved.

I don’t see any significant risks or at least any that cannot be managed with the proper measures. On the contrary, significant risks could occur if the unused spaces of the lighthouses are not used, since vandalism or degradation can leave them in ruins in no time at all, bearing in mind that the quality of the construction of the houses of the old lighthouse keepers is rather poor.

All the neighbouring countries have successfully developed similar initiatives to make use of the unused spaces of their lighthouses for tourism, as a strategy to conserve them. These include, among others, the United Kingdom (England and Scotland), Ireland, South Africa, Norway and, recently, Italy, with a new project that covers initiatives with more than 50 lighthouses.

How has Ineco’s inventory contributed? Has it revealed anything new?

The inventory done by Ineco, with the information provided by the port authorities, has meant, on the one hand, an update of the information of the unused spaces available in the lighthouses and, on the other hand, the uses that are being developed in those spaces, revealing, in some cases, that the information held by Puertos del Estado was not updated, either due to unreported uses (when it was not mandatory) or uses that were not ultimately implemented.

In addition to installations that form part of the maritime signalling system to provide assistance to sailors, Spanish lighthouses are also architectural constructions with great historic, technical and scenic value. Because they are located in areas that are remote and in some cases difficult to access, support buildings were originally built alongside them to provide the necessary maintenance, ranging from the lodgings of the lighthouse keepers –who today are called navigation assistance system technicians– to the storage, electrical and other buildings.

The tourist interest generated by the lighthouses led to the creation of the Faros de España project in 2014, an initiative of the Ministry of Public Works, implemented through Puertos del Estado and port authorities, with the goal of making the lighthouses “something more than lighthouses”. The project aims to develop of the spaces that are no longer required for the service, in order to enhance the different activities of maritime signalling, including their use as hotels. In short, it is a question of promoting the development of cultural and social interest, enriching the tourist offerings in different areas and ensuring the sustainable conservation of lighthouses in a way that is respectful to the environment, without affecting their navigational assistance functions.

Although the Faros de España  initiative includes developments other than hotel services, special focus has been placed on encouraging and promoting tourist accommodation, reusing the lodgings of the old lighthouse keepers. The project, which was carried out in 2015 and 2016 and for which Ineco provided technical assistance, seeks to promote the supplementary uses of lighthouses, using the spaces that are no longer necessary for the operation and maintenance of the lighthouse.

The idea is to reuse the lodgings of the old lighthouse keepers, for their original purpose, accommodation, but this time for tourists

The idea is not to convert lighthouses into hotels, since they are still required to provide navigational aid. The idea is to reuse the lodgings of the old lighthouse keepers, for their original purpose, accommodation, but this time for tourists.

There is already one lighthouse that is currently used as a hotel (the Isla Pancha lighthouse, Lugo), and others, such as the lighthouses at Trafalgar (Cádiz), Cudillero (Asturias) and Punta Cumplida (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), are on track to become hotels. Furthermore, the process has already begun with the Pescador lighthouse (Cantabria) which is having its urban development framework adapted, the Málaga lighthouse (Málaga), and the lighthouses of Higer, Santa Clara and Punta de Senokozulúa (Guipúzcoa).

With regard to other types of uses, 28 lighthouses have art and exhibition centres, 12 operate as cultural and training centres, 5 host activities such as research centres, and 7 others have cafés and restaurants.

187 lighthouses and one web platform

One fundamental part of the work performed by Ineco consisted of producing an inventory of 187 lighthouses that are currently managed by the port authorities. Each one has different characteristics in terms of facilities, location, access, urban and architectural features of the buildings, as well as their administrative situation (some being subject to concessions) and the environmental sensitivity inherent to their location, making the collection and homogenization of this information a vital task to make it available to prospective future developers. The included information covers the legal situation, land ownership, easements, state buildings, uses and facilities, etc.

This exhaustive analysis culminated with the creation of a database that has been used as an initial step to launching the new website www.lighthousesofspain.es. Ineco developed the website, which increases exposure to the initiative and is the platform to host the inventory. The website aims to increase awareness of the project, give details of the lighthouses, show their supplementary uses and serve as a platform to increase interest in the initiative, both on the part of the user and on the part of prospective developers.

Ineco developed the website, which increases exposure to the initiative and provides the platform to host the inventory

The lighthouses and their public domain are assigned to different authorities, which are responsible for managing requests to develop activities other than the activity of maritime signalling in the lighthouses. The activity is always developed through an administrative concession, for a period of years, in accordance with the existing legal framework and a business plan. In general, in addition to adapting the spaces, the developer must also renovate or consolidate the facilities based on their current state of conservation. The public concession is always be granted by the port authority to which the unit is attached.