Torre d’enfilació de Son Real

The Son Real alignment tower is part of a group of military towers built starting in 1941—in the midst of the Second World War—to enable submarines to conduct torpedo practice and maneuvers in the Bay of Alcúdia.

These structures are associated with the activities of the Alcúdia Submarine School, which used the bay as a naval training area. The towers were built in pairs: one closer to the coast and another located approximately 200 metres further inland. Submarines calculated their position by visually aligning the two towers, a technique known as enfilació. This is where the name of these structures comes from.

Between Alcúdia and Colònia de Sant Pere, as many as 14 pairs of towers were built, spaced approximately 1,240 metres apart. Military exercises involving these structures continued until 1970.

The Son Real tower, like the other surviving examples in the municipality, was built using sandstone blocks and cement and was traditionally painted white with red details. Several towers belonging to different pairs can still be seen between Can Picafort and Son Real.

Today, these towers no longer have any military function, but they form part of the historic coastal landscape. Their silhouettes, visible among the coastline, dunes and natural scenery of Son Real, recall a unique episode in 20th-century military history and have become one of the most representative images of Can Picafort.