Cape Trafalgar


Cape Trafalgar is a headland in the Province of Cádiz in the south-west of Spain. The 1805 naval Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy commanded by Admiral Horatio Nelson decisively defeated Napoleon's combined Spanish and French fleet, took place off the cape.
It lies on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the Strait of Gibraltar. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Western limit of the strait and the Mediterranean Sea as a line that joins Cape Trafalgar to the North to Cape Spartel to the south.
The most prominent structure on the cape is a 34-metre-high lighthouse, the faro de Cabo Trafalgar, built in 1860.

Etymology

The name is of Arabic origin, deriving either from Taraf al-Ghar, or from Taraf al-Gharb. In both cases, taraf means 'edge' or 'extremity' and refers to a promontory. In modern Arabic, however, the place is sometimes re-transcribed as al-Taraf al-Aghar.