Although the port always played a crucial role in the economic activity of Malaga, the increase of maritime exports in the second half of the 18th century demanded improvements in the port and in the safety of navigation. The proposal, project and direction of work by the engineer Joaquín Mª, Pery can be considered a necessary antecedent of the later industrial development of Málaga. The lighthouse was inaugurated in 1817 with a trococonic shape, although towards the middle of the 19th century the lighthouse keeper's house was built around it and, later, between 1909 and 1915, it was extended with a second floor.
From the technological point of view, the luminous signal has gone through several phases: oil lamps, kerosene, oil and, finally, electricity. A very important contribution was the incorporation of hand-carved fresnel lenses, whose refraction greatly improves the distance from which the luminous signal can be observed.
Regardless of its practical utility, the lighthouse - La Farola, as it is popularly known - has become the most recognizable icon of the city.