[1] The cape rises to a height of 326 m at the top of Jebel Quebir, where a lighthouse built by Sultan Muhammad IV in 1864 is situated at the end of a cliff.

It is now open to the public and includes a maritime museum, restaurant, botanical garden and an event space.

The two Spanish warships, newly built at Orio, were laden with ordnance and military stores and were accompanied by a 24-gun merchantman, the San Nicolas.

After a seven hours battle, both warships were captured; they were taken to Lisbon, but the Santa Teresa sank en route.

On 20 October 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, an inconclusive battle took place between a British and Franco-Spanish fleet about 18 miles off the coast, the Battle of Cape Spartel, between ships under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe.