According to Russ Rowlett:
The original lighthouse, built at the mouth of the Río Vélez, collapsed in 1880 due to beach erosion both by the ocean and the river. It was replaced by a "temporary" wood tower, which served until an 11 m (36 ft) masonry replacement tower was finally built in 1930. By the late 1960s, rapid beachfront development had rendered that lighthouse useless, so new tower was built near the ocean beach as a stopgap measure.