The ses Coves Blanques lighthouse is very close to the Sant Antoni dock, and was inaugurated in 1897 following innumerable petitions to the State by the Sant Antoni Town Council. The sailors who crossed the bay were demanding greater safety measures for reaching the port, as the intermittent signal from the sa Conillera lighthouse was insufficient and there had been several shipwrecks as a result.
The project was drafted by Eusebio Estada, an engineer known for being the driving force behind Majorca’s railway line. It costed just over 30,000 pesetas and was built in what was a deserted spot at the time, but which is now part of Sant Antoni town centre.
It began by flashing a fixed red beam that was visible for five miles. For the lighthouse keepers, ses Coves Blanques was a much-coveted assignment. This was because it was equipped with dwellings, and a large patio with a well which is still visible today. As a result it was considered to be a rest lighthouse, given that it only required lighter duties with easily handled equipment, a low rise tower and a village nearby with health and religious services available. Only employees aged over 50 years were assigned to this lighthouse, or those with a physical disability that might have hindered their work in the ordinary lighthouses.
In 1902, the beam was changed from red to white and so in 1914 residents and local associations asked for it to be replaced. The reason was that the village was growing in size and the lighthouse beam was becoming confused with the lights of the houses and as a result the signal was emitted as a flashing beam. In 1956 it became automatically operated, although by that time work had begun on building the port and so its days as a functioning lighthouse came to an end. The lights were turned off for the last time in 1963 when the beacon at the end of the pier began to operate.
In 2006, the Balearic Port Authority ceded it to Sant Antoni Town Council which, following restoration and refurbishment, reopened it in 2010 as a social and cultural centre and exhibition space. It was inaugurated without the lantern that had crowned the tower, as this had been dismantled and was found some time later inside a henhouse. In 2014 it was restored and reinstalled to its rightful place.
