The Port Authority cedes the use of the Faro del Caballo to the Regional Ministry of Tourism and the City Council of Santoña that will regulate the access through a system of prior reservation
The three institutions sign an agreement that includes the transfer of public port space for tourist use.
Santander 26-05-22. The Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Innovation, Transport and Trade, through CANTUR, and the City Council of Santoña will implement a management system to control access to the Lighthouse of the Horse through a pre-booking system during the summer months.
The first step to launch the initiative has been taken today with the signing of an agreement for the transfer of the use of the enclave, whose ownership belongs to Puertos del Estado as it is included in the figure of public domain for the service of maritime signaling.
The agreement has been signed this noon, in the City Council santoñés, by the Minister of Tourism and chairman of the board of CANTUR, Javier Lopez Marcano, the mayor of Santoña, Sergio Abascal, and the president of the Port Authority of Santander, Francisco Martin.
The objective of the access control is to "preserve and protect" the landscape, environmental and marine heritage of the lighthouse environment, according to López Marcano, after highlighting the large increase in visitors that has experienced this space and the overcrowding in recent years.
"It is an exceptionally particular heritage asset and we are delighted to collaborate in its necessary protection," said the counselor.
The head of Tourism has explained that CANTUR will take charge of the management of visits by hiring the staff that will be responsible for reviewing the reservations in the access to the lighthouse and ensure compliance.
For Lopez Marcano this action will also "improve the tourist experience of the visitor" and add value to it.
The idea that handle the Ministry and the City Council is to limit access to 300 people a day and keep the capacity controlled by hours. The reservation system will operate in the summer periods, coinciding with the high tourist season, when a large number of visitors are concentrated.
Both Lopez Marcano and the mayor of Santoña, Sergio Abascal, have indicated that the "ideal" would be able to implement the appointment system this summer, but the administrative procedures for the signing of the agreement of transfer of use have rushed deadlines and both institutions should assess the possibility of implementing the system later.
"In a year in which the tourist forecasts are excellent, it is mandatory to work and think about the obligation to limit access and schedules and we will start working on it from this moment," he stressed.
The mayor explained, meanwhile, that the City Council will carry out a project of conditioning and improvement of the entire environment of the lighthouse, which includes works to improve safety on the access stairs from Mount Buciero, the creation of a small infrastructure that serves as a visitor reception center, improving the pavements and the reform of deteriorated elements and the lower platform, as well as the removal of graffiti.
Abascal has advanced that these works will begin later this year or facing the spring of 2023, depending on the timing and public procurement and the goal is that they are funded by the aid program of the Ministry of Fisheries, through the Eastern Coastal Action Group of Cantabria (Eastern GAC).
For the mayor, the signing of the transfer agreement is "a very important step" after a long time projecting the control of access for the summer season. "It is a point and followed a process in which we have been a long time and that will allow us to protect the lighthouse," he insisted, after recalling the tourist boom that has experienced the whole environment, including routes through the Monte Buciero, after the pandemic and the demand for outdoor spaces.
The mayor has also stressed that both things, the adequacy of space and the limitation of visits, will influence the improvement of the safety of visitors and avoid incidents and accidents that have been common in the last two years.
Finally, the president of the Port Authority, Francisco Martin, has expressed his satisfaction with this agreement and the "administrative success" of signing an agreement involving three institutions and to contribute from the Port Authority of Santander to "enhance and preserve an industrial and maritime heritage reference as the Faro del Caballo".