The towers and the Tamarit line
The island of Mallorca has a large number of military structures along its coast. Especially in the Bay of Alcudia and particularly in Can Picafort and Son Real different types of war elements are concentrated.
The construction of these elements dates back to the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Thus, the national side promoted the construction of a large number of coastal fortifications, known as the “Tamarit Line” (Plan of fortifications devised by General Ricardo Fernández de Tamarit), to deal with an eventual Republican attack by sea. This constructive program was maintained in the following years in anticipation of an eventual allied landing during World War II.
The military constructions that can be found the most are the so-called “machine gun nests“, also popularly known as “bunkers“. As mentioned above, these had the function of safeguarding the coasts from a hypothetical invasion. Most of these fortifications were progressively abandoned and no military use is documented from the 1950s onwards. Today, only the cannons inside their rooms are missing, which were dismantled without ever having been used.
On the other hand, the coast of Santa Margalida also has another element of military architecture not so common: the towers. These towers were built in the 1940s to carry out military exercises from 1941 to 1970. Thus, they were used for submarines to carry out naval firing manoeuvres and mines. In this way, the submarines calculated their position thanks to the routing or superposition of the towers.
A total of 14 pairs of towers were built from s’Albufera to Colònia de Sant Pere. These were located regularly and separated by an interval of 1.2km and a distance between them of 200 metres. At present, only 8 are conserved in the whole Bay of Alcudia. In Can Picafort there are three recently restored towers. On the other hand, in the area of Son Real there are two more towers in a state of deterioration.
They were originally painted white, numbered and with red markings at different levels. Their profile and their white and red colours have become the iconic image of the Can Picafort tourist brand.
Conservation problems and threats
Most of these fortifications were progressively abandoned and no military use is documented from the 1950s onwards. Since then, many have completely disappeared and others are in a very severe state of ruin. Recently, several projects have been implemented to enhance this type of architecture in different parts of the peninsular geography by means of archaeological excavations or museum reconstructions.
The two towers of Son Real and all the machine gun nests are in a very bad state of conservation and represent a danger for bathers. However, they are catalogued and protected with a high historical value.
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