Punta Nati Lighthouse

The headland faces west into open sea, and that is why cars come out here at the end of the day: nothing stands between the tower and the horizon, and the grey stone turns amber and pink as the sun drops.

The ground around the lighthouse is a limestone plain with almost no vegetation, crossed in every direction by dry-stone walls and dotted with barracas, the stone shelters island farmers built for their sheep. Beside the lighthouse, looking out over the sea, sits a cluster of bunkers from the Spanish Civil War, built in the same barraca shape. A simple cross on a cairn stands not far off, one of the memorials to the Général Chanzy. After dark there is no light pollution out here and the stars come out over the water.

• Nothing here but the place — no toilets, no drinking water, no shop or bar at the lighthouse or within walking distance of it. Bring water.
• The car park fills up before sunset and there is nowhere else nearby to leave a car, so a late arrival can mean driving back.
• The tower and its walled compound are closed — the visit is the walk, the coast and the bunkers beside the lighthouse.
• Closed shoes. The path is easy underfoot most of the way and turns to rough stone over the last stretch.
• No shelter from the wind on the open headland; bring a windproof layer.

The way out is a narrow road from Ciutadella, a few kilometres of it hemmed in by dry-stone walls, with the limestone plain opening out on either side. The car park sits where the Camí de Cavalls crosses the road, about 1 km short of the lighthouse; the surface is bare ground.

The rest is on foot — 1 km, 10 to 15 minutes, flat and straightforward until the final part, where the path runs over rough stone. The Camí de Cavalls, the footpath that rings the island, ends its stage from Ciutadella here and carries on north-east towards Cala Morell. No bus comes this far out.

Best: sunset. The headland looks straight west over open sea with nothing in the way, and the light turns the stone warm as it goes; stay on afterwards and the sky fills with stars.

Avoid: cutting it fine for the car park, which fills before sunset with no other parking nearby.

On a windy day the place is exposed from every side — the view holds up, the walk is harder work than the distance suggests.

The lighthouse is working navigation equipment, maintained by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, and the tower and its walled compound are closed to visitors. The visit happens outside the wall: the open ground, the coast path and the cliffs. The dry-stone walls and the barracas on the plain are old farm structures — leave them alone and don't climb on them.