Tower of Botafuegos

The Tower of Botafuegos (Torre de Botafuegos) is an Arab watchtower tower built sometime in the 14th century located in Los Barrios, Spain. It was part of the system of fortifications present in the Strait of Gibraltar. It is located on the so-called Monte de la Torre, in the municipality of Los Barrios, Cádiz, 120 meters above sea level, next to the Botafuegos stream, a tributary of the Palmones River, and the Prior stream, which forms a reservoir at its base. The tower is situated approximately 15 kilometers from the coast, monitoring the route connecting the cities of Al-Yazirat Al-Hadra and Medina Sidonia, as well as the route known as La Trocha, which linked Al-Yazirat Al-Hadra with Tarifa. It maintained visual contact with the Adalides tower, which in turn was linked to Algeciras, thus ensuring communication between the interior and the coast. There are hardly any written references to this tower prior to the 19th century, with the exception of a reference by King Alfonso XI of Castile who, during the siege of the city of Algeciras, mentions a watchtower on Prior hill, which takes its name from the Prior of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem who participated in the Castilian king's campaign; presumably, being the Tower of Botafuegos. The tower has a square floor plan, six meters on each side. Access to the building is through a ground-level doorway with a bli

Building data from Wikidata (CC0); heights normalised. Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).