Nestled in the steep cliffs of the Cape San Antonio In Xàbia there is a building that was once crucial for maritime navigation and telecommunications: the old electro-semaphore station, popularly known as 'El Semáforo'.
These facilities, the electro-semaphore stations (maritime semaphores), are perhaps the great unknown infrastructures supporting ships. But what was it and what was its purpose? They were a workspace in which, at first, a system of flags was used to transmit messages between the coast and the ships that sailed the Mediterranean, taking into account that at that time maritime transport was booming on our coast due to the export of raisins.
From the 1880s onwards, a new concept in maritime lighting began to become widespread: the electro-semaphore station. Its objective was to unify two extremely necessary functions in transport and communications at a single strategic point. According to a contemporary definition, “an electro-semaphore station is a small house conveniently located at a high point projecting from the coast; it has a telegraph station that communicates with the nearest one on the general network, and at its highest point a device that serves to communicate, by means of signals, with ships that can cross within sight.”
The function of this building is also a reflection of the advances and changes in communications technology. Unlike the lighthouse, this one is made to be seen, while the 'semaphore' was made to see and communicate.
And Xàbia, due to its strategic location, became a key point in the history of communications. In addition to its two lighthouses - the Cape San Antonio Lighthouse and the Cabo de la Nao lighthouse-, had the first telegraph station that linked the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands with a 111,3 kilometre submarine cable –The Cable House– and an electro-semaphore and telegraph station that began operating in 1894, and which we will tell you about.
Next you have an index with all the points that we are going to deal with.
The origin: a project to improve maritime safety
Now, after the introduction of this 'unknown' infrastructure we go into the origin of the existing ones in Xàbia. The history of the 'Semáforo' dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the development of maritime trade and communication needs led the government to implement a series of electro-semaphore stations along the Spanish coast that complemented the function of the lighthouses, hence it was located next to the Cape San Antonio lighthouse, which became operational in 1855.
Its origins date back to June 6, 1872, when Spain began planning the establishment of electro-semaphore stations on its coast, with the aim of improving maritime safety and facilitating communication between ships and the coast. This project was promoted by the General Directorate of Telegraphs, which recognized the need to provide the merchant and military navy with a modern and efficient infrastructure.
But it was not until April 1873 with the expansion and reform of the Spanish telegraph network, converted into law, when the transversal and semaphore lines of the State were regulated, and among them, there is the branch with a connecting wire from Jávea to the Semaphore of Cabo de San Antonio.
So, 10 years later, on November 19, 1883, The Gazette published the auction for the construction of a traffic light at Cape San Antonio, with a budget of 25.321,29 pesetas. This traffic light began to operate in 1885, although with serious deficiencies.
Chronicles of the time reported that the tower was too low and that the angles of observation were limited, preventing all the signals from the ships from being seen. In addition, the building turned out to be fragile and of poor quality, to the point that the workers themselves could not live in it.
Specifically, according to an article from Fomento de la Marina de Denia published in an article in 1885, after a visit to the Semáforo del Cabo de San Antonio, he says: "The building has the disadvantage of being somewhat low, which is why the lighthouse keepers' room intended for service embraces an angle of the horizon of about 25 or 30 degrees, a circumstance that prevents observing the signals made by a ship that is located within this angle, this not being possible because it is located to the NE and SE parts. To remedy this fault, undoubtedly unnoticed by Mr. Chief Engineer of the province and by the officer appointed to inspect the works, it would be advisable to raise a second floor, because in this way the building could perfectly serve the service entrusted to it."
Finally, in 1892, it was declared 'useless' and was modified.
A new attempt: the 1894 station
Following the failure of the first project, the construction of a new electro-semaphore station was put out to tender in 1893, which was inaugurated on 1 May 1894. Designed by engineer Felipe Briñas and built by José Cardona Salines, this new installation combined a semaphore for visual communication with ships and a telegraph station connected to the national network. The station consisted of an electrical part, which consisted of a telegraph cabinet with all its accessories and ready to transmit telegrams to any town reached by telegraph, and the semaphore, which included a flagpole of certain dimensions, with the signals that constitute the plan for these, which is set out in the International Code, to communicate with ships, and vice versa.
The first lookouts to work at the station were José Tomás Zaragoza, from Villajoyosa, and Vicente Moll Español, from Xàbia - according to Godofredo Cruañes, he obtained a position to study for a career as a semaphore lookout in June 1887. He reached the rank of lieutenant in the Navy, and was Assistant to the Navy Command in Benidorm.
The Traffic Light Service Regulations for safe communication
In 1872, the Ministry of the Navy approved the regulations for the semaphore service, establishing its functions and requirements for personnel. Its main objective was the surveillance of the sea and communication between ships and land, operating from dawn to dusk.
The employees, called first and second class lookouts, were selected by the Admiralty and had to meet strict requirements: good eyesight, knowledge of the International Code of Signals, mathematical skills and the ability to identify ship manoeuvres and faults. Entry age ranged from 25 to 50 years.
Each lookout was required to scan the horizon with his telescope every ten minutes and report any suspicious activity, including possible smugglers, to maritime and civil authorities. In addition, telegraphic dispatches were required to be written in the language of the country where the semaphore was located, thus making them easier to understand.
This regulation was key to the professionalization of the traffic light service and the safety of navigation during the 19th century.
Universal code of signals
As early as 1867, at the Vienna International Telegraph Conference, the creation of a universal signal language for maritime communication had been proposed. This initiative took shape with the Commercial Code of Signals, developed by England and France and later adopted by other European countries, including Spain.
Thanks to this system, ships could receive and send messages in real time, something revolutionary for the time. The Xàbia semaphore, like others of its time, combined a system of visual signals with a telegraph link that allowed messages to be transmitted to the national network.
But with the arrival of radiotelegraphy and the improvement of navigation systems, electro-semaphore stations began to lose relevance. Thus, the Semaphore of Cabo de San Antonio stopped serving in the first half of the 20th century and was converted into a coastal Telefónica station, which was linked to the function of the Casa del Cable, built in 1860 to house the telegraph station that linked the Peninsula with Ibiza by means of an underwater cable, was when the Semáforo closed its doors and began to fall into disrepair. Thus, the current building, which belongs to the State Society of Post and Telegraph, is in a state of disrepair.
New life?
El Javea Town Hall A few years ago, the company began to take steps to obtain its transfer and give it a new use, thus recovering a key part of the Mediterranean communications network. One of the proposals under study was its rehabilitation as a technological and innovation centre, which could restore part of its lost splendour and recover a part of the history of maritime communications in Spain and the heritage of Xàbia.
Bibliography
- John the Baptist Codina Bas
- Godofredo Cruanes
- Arxiu Municipal Xàbia
- Telegraph Magazine -various publications-
- Newspaper Archive of the Provinces
