Only in December 1836 did the Portuguese Ministry of Finance commission an engineer, Gaudêncio Fontana, to construct a lighthouse on the island.

[1][2] The equipment consisted of a catoptric device, with sixteen oil-fired Argand lamps with parabolic reflectors, giving off a white light with ten-second flashes.

The long duration of the infrequent flashes led to it being criticized for poorly serving navigation as it could be easily confused with other lights.

The new device, supplied by the French company of Barbier, Benard, et Turenne, began to function definitively on November 6, 1897, making one complete rotation in 30 seconds, with a group of three flashes in this time.

Although it is automated, lighthousekeepers still live on-site but, since 1975, their families have been accommodated at the mainland Cape Carvoeiro lighthouse in Peniche.