2024Centenary Of The Portuguese Lighthouse Authority - First Day Cover MS

The Direção de Faróis (Lighthouse Authority), or DF, is the Portuguese technical authority for maritime signalling and positioning. Created by a decree on 23 May 1924, in response to the significant increase in the number of lighthouses and maritime signalling systems, its objectives were to centralise responsibility for all Aids to Navigation in Portugal and oversee the management of lighthouse staffing. Initially based in Caxias in 1926, it moved on 8 July 1946 to the facilities of the extinct Grupo de Defesa Submarina da Costa (Coastal Submarine Defence Group), in Paço de Arcos, where it is still located today. To effectively fulfil its mission, this hundred- -year-old organisation has 35 military, 44 militarised and 18 civil personnel, in addition to 104 dedicated lighthouse keepers, distributed across a network of 30 lighthouses on the mainland, 16 in the Azores and 7 in Madeira. Since 1961, the DF has also been in charge of the Building of Command and the School of Lighthouse Keepers.