Torre Torregarcía, 16th-century watchtower in Almeria, Spain

Torre Torregarcía is a 16th-century stone watchtower standing on a beach, built as part of Spain's coastal defense system. The structure shows typical features of military fortifications from this period, with thick walls and a practical design for surveillance purposes.

The tower was built between 1571 and 1575 under King Philip II to protect the Spanish Mediterranean coast from attacks. It was part of a larger network of watchtowers stretching along the coast that enabled communication between defense posts.

On 21 December 1502 the guard Andrés de Jaén found an image of the Virgen del Mar near the tower; in 1806 she became patron saint of Almería. A chapel was built at the spot in 1953, and in 1940 a ceramic tile with her image and a plaque were placed on the tower wall.

Access to the tower itself is prohibited because of its poor state of conservation, so the metal staircase added in the 1987-1989 restoration cannot be used to climb it. The tower stands on Playa de Torregarcía, a few kilometres east of Almería, and can be reached both along the beach and from the road running north of it. The chapel built in 1953 and the ruins of the Roman fish-salting plant lie close by.

The tower was part of a clever communication system where guards could relay signals between neighboring towers to send quick warnings along the coast. This chain of observation points made the defense network particularly effective.