Cabo de Palos is a Spanish cape in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and a population that is located in the municipality of Cartagena.

Orographically, the cape forms part of the last foothills of the Betic mountain ranges of the nevado-filábride complex formed by Paleozoic myicaschists.

In 1554, due to the intensity of the Berber pirate attacks on the entire Spanish Mediterranean coast, King Carlos I ordered the Cartagena Council to build a watchtower on the promontory with the name of Torre de San Antonio.

It is in the time of Felipe II when the elaboration of a complete system of defense of the coasts is undertaken, whose most direct managers were Vespasiano de Gonzaga and the prestigious Italian engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli, who, during the summer of 1570, carefully toured the coast of Cartagena and planned a complete defensive system of the Spanish coast.

As a consequence of this defense plan, in 1578 the tower, which had a hexagonal shape, was finished and it was ordered to post guards whose mission consisted of seeing as soon as possible and giving notice of the presence of enemy whips, galleys and arrows.

In 1862 the construction of the current lighthouse began, which rises up to 80 meters above sea level and 50 meters above the ground located in the eastern part of the cape, on a small hill. It was illuminated for the first time on January 31, 1865.

On the night of March 5-6, 1938, about 70 miles east of Cape Palos, the largest naval battle of the Spanish Civil War, the Battle of Cape Palos, was fought.