Heading to Portuguese beaches this summer and not sure where on the sand you’re allowed to stick your parasol? That uncertainty should end with a new map that will be placed at the entrance to beaches in the Algarve and along the Alentejo coast, showing concession, circulation and safety areas as well as free zones, to clarify where sun umbrellas can be set up.
The measure was announced by the Minister for Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, during a visit to the headquarters of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), following the controversy over sun umbrellas on Portuguese beaches, which left many bathers confused.
On Portuguese beaches it is common to find signs that split the sand between ‘concession zone’ and ‘umbrella zone’. Over the years, the idea took hold that anyone who didn’t rent a parasol or sun lounger had to put up their own umbrella only in the areas reserved for that purpose. In reality, there has never been any law to that effect.
The row blew up when the president of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), José Pimenta Machado, stated that stopping bathers from putting sun umbrellas in front of licensed concessions is “an abuse”.
The APA president later clarified that “the concession area is limited to that rectangle and can never exceed 30% of the usable area of the beach or 50% of the seafront”. “Everything else is for free use,” he stressed, in response to the questions that had been raised.
Even after formal guidance from the APA to concession-holders, doubts persisted as the bathing season got under way. That is why the government has now decided to move ahead with putting up, at the entrance to every beach, a map that shows, clearly and visually, how all the different areas of the beach space are divided up.
Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho explained that “it needs to be clear, and shown in a diagram at the entrance to the beach” where each type of zone begins and ends, since this delimitation can vary from beach to beach and is the responsibility of the respective mayor.
The measure follows a meeting with mayors from the Algarve region, namely the municipalities of Vila Real de Santo António, Castro Marim, Faro, Lagos and Vila do Bispo, and from the Alentejo municipality of Grândola, noting that these are “the most committed to this issue, because they have had some incidents” concerning the use of their beaches.
From the meeting, which also involved the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP), AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community and the APA, came an agreement with these local leaders from the Algarve and Grândola to install a map on beaches, clearly identifying four types of zone: concession areas; circulation areas; safety areas; and free areas, reserved for bathers to put up their umbrellas.
Drawing up these maps will be the responsibility of the mayors, but each one will have to be validated with an opinion from the Maritime Authority and from the APA itself.
Given the urgency of the matter, bearing in mind that the bathing season has already started, the minister asked local leaders to ensure the new signs are put in place “as quickly as possible”. A request that met with an immediate positive response, according to the minister, since the municipal councils themselves are the first to deal with complaints and disputes caused by the lack of clarity.
“It is also in the mayors’ interest; they are annoyed, because they are the first face people come up against in some of these misunderstandings, so they will act as fast as possible,” the minister said.
Maria da Graça Carvalho also stressed that this map does not change the existing rules, under which concession areas may not exceed 30% of the usable area of the beach or 50% of the beachfront, pointing out that safety and circulation areas are not counted in those limits: “they simply have to be kept clear”, and then “the rest is for umbrellas or other uses”.