Menorca Britannia.
Not the oldest of Menorca’s lighthouses, the first being built on Illa del Aire (Punta Prima) on the orders of Queen Isabel II in 1860, Favaritx was not built until 1922 following a ship wreck shortly before on the rocks in the adjacent bay. None the less for that we were all immediately in awe, not only of the construction of the lighthouse but also of the way it functioned. We were honoured to be guided on our visit by Sr. Sebastion Pons of the Port Authority (Senyals Maritims) with a career spanning 37 years working with lighthouses, first in Galicia and later in Ibiza until coming to Menorca and the Faro de Favaritx 27 years ago to be the resident keeper. Living, working and bringing up his family there until their teenage years when the lighthouses became automated. His first hand and intimate knowledge of Favaritx was fascinating to listen to and this was nicely translated for our British members by our President Juan and we all came away with a lot more knowledge of the important function these have in the safety of maritime travel. After climbing the 120 or so steps to the top to see the tiny light bulb and the refractors was perhaps the highlight and well worth the effort. The group of 28 participating members are heading off next Monday 24th on our week long trip to Segovia, Avila and Salamanca and we expect to be able to relate a few tales from that journey upon our return Members have already been given details of the next event on December 13th. This is an historic and cultural guided tour of the XVII century town of Alaior.
17th. November 2008 Lo sentimos no tenemos la traducción todavía
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After such a wet Friday last week the weather could not have been better for the dramatic scenery of Favaritix on Saturday morning. Aproximately 40 members braved the gale force winds for what has since been described unanimously as fantastic and the opportunity to visit the Lighthouse during weather conditions for which these imposing edificies were designed.
As Sr. Sebastion had taken time from his annual holiday to look after us so well it was even more fitting to show our gratitude by presenting him with one of our much coveted Menorca Britannia polo shirts.
