The boats of Alghero’s coral fishermen were thus placed at anchor in the inlet known as Portichiol, the Small Port, well protected from winds and tides. As for thieves, around the mid-1500s a fine tower was built on the high promontory to one side, which rises to 48 m above sea level. From the tower, the field of view reached more than 25 km, and the tower was always in visual contact with the towers of Porto Conte and Porto Ferro. Two cannons and three soldiers did the rest.

After many years of abandonment had reduced it to ruin, the Tower was finally restored in 2009, so today it can still stand watch, with its massive Aragonese shape, over those bright spirits who decide to spend the day on that gleaming crescent of sand which is Cala Viola. We suggest you climb to the top of the Tower and give free rein to your glance – strain your eyes to the horizon, eventually you’ll return from that vastness, with a branch of coral in your mouth.