Underwater heritage
Research in progressFour cannons and a cannonball, with no shipwreck to claim them
Off El Saladillo beach, by Matas Verdes, the seabed off Estepona holds two groups of cannons — three in one spot, four large ones and a cannonball in another — protected by the regional government in 2009. Neither group has ever been linked to a known shipwreck, and their exact date remains undetermined.
Ubicación
Frente a la playa de El Saladillo, a la altura de Matas Verdes, Estepona
Composición
Dos agrupaciones: 3 cañones frente a Matas Verdes; 4 cañones de gran tamaño y una bola de munición en la segunda
Relación con naufragio
No localizado ningún material asociado que permita vincularlo a un naufragio conocido
Protección legal
Bien de Interés Cultural, tipología Zona Arqueológica — Decreto 285/2009, de 23 de junio
Publicación oficial
BOJA n.º 129, 6 de julio de 2009, página 86
Cronología
Sin datar con precisión en las fuentes oficiales consultadas
Cañones del Saladillo is an underwater archaeological site off El Saladillo beach, by Matas Verdes, in the municipality of Estepona. According to the decree that protects it, it consists of two groups of cannons: a first group of three, located off Matas Verdes; and a second group of four large cannons and a cannonball. The decree is explicit on one point: "in principle they do not correspond to any shipwreck, because no associated material has been found" that would link them to a known sunken vessel. The site was listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural, classified as an Archaeological Zone, by Decree 285/2009 of 23 June — a single ruling that protected fifty-six underwater sites along the whole Andalusian coast at once — published in the BOJA official gazette, issue 129, on 6 July 2009. Neither the decree nor any other official source consulted gives a precise date for the cannons.
Full article
The complete article with all sources and detail is available in Spanish.
Full translation into English is planned for a future phase.