The municipality in the country with the highest number of beaches with golden quality is Albufeira (with 20 bathing areas), followed by Vila Nova de Gaia (16), Almada (15), Vila do Bispo (12), Torres Vedras (11) and Grândola (10).
Compared to 2012, there are 41 more beaches with golden quality, in a total of 336 of the 543 bathing areas. Of the 336 identified beaches, 309 are coastal, 21 are inland and 6 are transitional.
At the beginning of every bathing season, Quercus – National Association for the Conservation of Nature attributes the classification of «beaches with golden quality» to the bathing areas of the country with the best results in terms of water quality.
In the Algarve, there are 84 beaches with golden quality, which means that a quarter of the high quality bathing areas in the country are located in the southernmost region of the country, a percentage that increases if only coastal beaches are taken into account.
Albufeira, with 20 beaches (two more than last year), and Vila do Bispo, with 12, are among the record-setting municipalities at the national level. Loulé and Aljezur have nine golden quality beaches, Portimão has six, Lagoa, Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António have five, Tavira has four, and Castro Marim, faro and Olhão have three.
For the mayor of Albufeira, the results of the beaches in this municipality «are the result of hard work carried out by the Municipality in recent years on several fronts, namely in the cleaning of beaches and water lines, treatment of wastewater and in compliance with various criteria related to the safety and quality of bathing areas, such as accessibility and water quality control».
In the municipality of Loulé, compared to last year, there was a greater number of beaches to receive that distinction, which allowed to go "from the 60 percent achieved in 2012 to 90 percent in 2013".
«Thus, almost the entire coastline of the municipality of Loulé reinforces the image published last year, “Loulé is Gold on Blue”, that is, it brings together two high-level distinctions, the Blue Flag and the Gold Flag of Quercus» , illustrated the municipality.
Loulé has a coastline of 14 kilometers and «offers extensive beaches of fine and golden sand, long hours of sunshine, mild climate and some of the best tourist structures in the Algarve and the country». «Creating a differentiation through the quality of excellence is what the Municipality of Loulé wants for the beaches of the municipality of Loulé», concluded the municipality.
More bathing areas in 2013
According to Quercus data, in 2013 there are 543 bathing areas in Portugal, 17 more than in 2012. Based on their history, including analyzes up to the end of the 2012 bathing season, there are now four beaches with quality classified as “poor” , one less than in the past bathing season: one on the coast, São Roque in the municipality of Machico in Madeira, and three inland areas: Pontilhão da Valeta in Arcos de Valdevez, Fragas de S. Simão in Figueiró dos Vinhos and Agroal in Ourém.
Of the total number of bathing waters, 23 beaches have limited use, namely due to risk situations associated with the stability of the cliffs (Ordinance No. 178/2013, of 13 May).
The Tagus estuary has, for the first time, a duly classified beach, where bathing is now permitted. This is the beach at Ponta dos Corvos, in the municipality of Seixal, whose bathing season will last from 15 June to 15 September. “This fact deserves to be highlighted, as it is undoubtedly the result of the effort to treat domestic effluents that has been carried out on both sides of the estuary in recent years”, stresses Quercus.
The environmental association also points out that, "in relation to the previous bathing season, there was a significant increase in beaches with excellent quality", rising from 85% to 94% in the case of coastal and transition beaches, and from 54% to 68 % for inland waters, values close to those recorded in 2011, mainly in relation to the first type of bathing areas (coastal and transitional beaches).
Quercus considers that there is still “some vulnerability to pollution, especially in inland waters, namely with regard to flaws in basic sanitation and watershed management problems, which will be the origin of bad analyses, and in in many cases it is still not possible to identify a clear cause'. According to EU legislation, by the 2015 bathing season there will have to be no more beaches with poor quality.
What are the criteria for golden beaches
At the beginning of the main bathing season, on June 1st, and as in previous years, Quercus – National Association for the Conservation of Nature made an assessment and perspective of the quality of bathing water in Portugal, based on official public information, provided by the Portuguese Environment Agency.
In order to be classified as a beach with gold quality, a bathing area must meet the following criteria:
– Good water quality in the two bathing seasons between 2008 and 2009 (“good” was, until 2009, the best possible quality according to previous European legislation);
– Excellent water quality in the last three bathing seasons from 2010 to 2012;
– All the analyzes carried out in the last bathing season (2012) were excellent.
This assessment carried out by Quercus is more limited compared to the award of the Blue Flag, as it is based only on the water quality of the beaches, despite being more demanding in this specific aspect.
Quercus' objective is to highlight the beaches which, over several years (five in this case), have systematically been of good quality or excellent quality (taking into account the classification of the legislation in force), and which, in this sense, offer greater reliability with regard to water quality.
This list does not include bathing areas less than five years old and those that have only recently had their pollution problems resolved or where any analysis of less than excellent quality has been verified in the last bathing season.
National Water Resources Information System does not provide information
Information on the classification of beaches in terms of water quality and the results of analyzes during the bathing season was usually centralized and made available in an easy and expeditious manner by the Instituto da Água, which has since been integrated into the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), through of the National Water Resources Information System (SNIRH).
However, and with the bathing season already underway on several beaches, «this is not happening», guarantees Quercus. Therefore, it is only possible to directly consult the analysis bulletins through the APA website, and only for some hydrographic regions.
“Unfortunately, this is yet another case where budget restrictions are having direct consequences on the quality and duty of information to the public in the environmental area,” stresses Quercus.
List of golden quality beaches in the Algarve:
ALBUFEIRA
ARRIFS
AVEIROS
TEE MATCHES
CASTLE
RABBIT
EVARISTO
ALFAMAR FALESIA
EAST WALK
WEST WALK
MANUEL LOURENCO
MARIA LUISA
GOLD
GOLDEN EAST
PENCO
FISHERMEN
LOW ROCK
LOW REAR ROCK
LOW-WEST ROCK
SNACKS
SANTA EULALIA
ALJEZUR
LOVED
MMOREIRA-MAR
MOREIRA-RIO
ARRIFANA
BORDER
MONTE CLERGY
THE DECICE-SEA
MEN'S VALLEY
FIGUEIRAS VALLEY
CASTRO MARIM
ALAGOA-HEIGHT
HEAD
GREEN BEACH
FARO
BARRET
breech-sea
ISLAND OF FAROL-MAR
LAGOON
BENAGIL
CANERS
CARVALHO
ROUND DIT
LADY OF THE ROCK
LAGOS
POTATO
D. ANA
LIGHT
HALF BEACH
PORT OF MOS
LOULE
ANCAO
STRONG NEW
BOAR-BORN
WEST JAIL
OLD LOULE
FOURTH
QUINTA DO LAGO
VALLEY OF WOLF
VILLAGE
look
ARMONA-MAR
ARMONARY
FUETA-MAR
PORTIMAO
DAWN
DAWN
CARIANS
PRAINHA
ROCHA
VAU
TAVIRA
BARREL
CABANAS-ViMAR
TAVIRA-MAR ISLAND
NARROW EARTH
BISHOP'S VILLAGE
ALMADENA‐OLD CABANS
MOUTH OF THE RIVER
BURGAU
CASTLEJO
ROPE
FURNAS
INGRINE
sledgehammer
MARTINAL
SALEMA
TUNEL
ZAVIAL
ROYAL TOWN OF SAN ANTONIO
FACTORY-MAR
BURBOT
ROUTE BLANKET
MONTE GORDO
SAINT ANTONIO
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