Artist turns Spanish lighthouse into work of art

The Faro de Ajo building is now radiating more than just light.

Spanish artist, Okuda San Miguel, has turned a previously nondescript white lighthouse in Cantabria, northern Spain, into a technicolour work of art, according to Time Out.

Near Santander, the 16m tower is painted in more than 70 shades.

“It has been a unique experience, both because of the artistic challenge that it has brought about for me, as well having carried this project out in my homeland,” San Miguel says.

“It’s the first lighthouse in Spain to be turned into art, and it is hoped it will become a symbol that allows us to light up the uncertain present through colour.”

Image courtesy of Beatriz Carretero and Omar H. Garcia

According to The Guardian, the work was commissioned by the local council and the port authority. It’s intended to boost visitor numbers to one of the lesser known spots on the coast of Spain, and some of the money raised through marketing or events at the site will go to funding food banks in the area.

But almost 4,000 people signed a petition calling for the building to remain white as five cultural groups also wrote to the local mayor, asking him to reflect on whether the project was ‘appropriate’.

Recently members of the regional branch of the Izquierda Unida (United Left) party went a little further by reporting the matter to prosecutors and asking them to examine whether the council and the port authority had infringed any heritage laws or misused their powers. An investigation has been opened, says The Guardian.