Torre de los Adalides

Algeciras, Spain, Spain

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Torre de los Adalides in Algeciras, Spain, was a medieval Islamic watchtower built between the 12th and 13th centuries to monitor the Strait of Gibraltar and Algeciras Bay, first documented in 1342 shortly after Tarifa's capture in 1289.

Positioned about 1 km inland on a 100-meter hill amid today's northern suburbs, this rectangular structure enabled visual links with nearby towers like Torre de Botafuegos and Torre del Almirante, plus towns such as Algeciras and Carteia.

It gained fame as the headquarters for King Alfonso XI of Castile's "adalides" (Moorish champion troops) during the 1342-1344 Siege of Algeciras, where the king resided, culminating in the Battle of Río Palmones and the city's surrender. 

Later repurposed as a 1776 gunpowder store, it deteriorated by 1832 and was demolished by Spanish forces in 1898 during the Spanish-American War over fears of enemy use; its ruins lie within restricted military grounds today.