Trafalgar

NATURAL MONUMENT TOMBOLO DE TRAFALGAR

This Natural Monument is in the area of the Cabo de Trafalgar Lighthouse, close to Caños de Meca. Its beautiful landscape combines fine sand dunes, broad beaches and a rocky area where the lighthouse stands.

The sand brought by the tides created a causeway that links the islet with the mainland. When the sea withdrew, the wind caused dunes to form on the beaches of the south of the islet, contributing to its fossilisation. On the old coast, the easterly wind caused another system of dunes to form, now covered with juniper trees and mastic.

Battle of Trafalgar

However, the most characteristic thing about this place is its history. Around the lighthouse there are archaeological sites such as a Roman temple to the god Juno with sacrificial altar and a fish-salting factory. There is part of an 11th-century watchtower from the Hispano-Moorish settlement, dismantled in the 19th century to build today’s lighthouse. Nevertheless, the event that really made it famous was the Battle of Trafalgar, in 1805, which saw the tragic deaths of 5,000 soldiers, the sinking of innumerable boats and the loss of Spanish naval hegemony against the British navy.