Civil Protection extends the forbidden zone on the Nossa Senhora da Rocha Promontory

The prohibited access zone on the Nossa Senhora da Rocha Promontory, on the coast of Lagoa, will be expanded, following the fall of a section of wall and cliff which happened yesterday afternoon, revealed to the Sul Informação the person responsible for the Municipal Protection of this county.

Vítor Rio Alves added that, as an "immediate measure", almost the entire wall area on the right, from the ramp, will be closed to public access. "We are going to put a new fence on the site, as well as signal it," he said.

The person responsible for Civil Protection said that the fall of that cliff area and the wall above was already predictable, but that it was precipitated "by bad weather, with a lot of rain" and by "small earthquakes" that have occurred in recent days.

This morning, Rio Alves was at the Promontory of Senhora da Rocha, assessing the situation, together with the president of the Parish Council of Porches, councilor Luís Encarnação, the technician responsible for the Department of Works of the City Council of Lagoa and his in charge.

"We were there all morning, until around one o'clock in the afternoon, and I didn't see any APA/ARH team there," guaranteed the head of the Municipal Civil Protection of Lagoa.

«We had already warned the APA/ARH of the risk of collapse in that area, as well as of the risks in other areas of the promontory, where it is visible that the cracks in the cliffs are increasing. But so far, as far as I know, they haven't taken any decision,” he concluded.

This early afternoon, speaking to the Sul Informação, Sebastião Teixeira, responsible for the Portuguese Environment Agency/ARH Algarve, had ensured that a team from this body had already visited the site., which, apparently, will not have happened.

“For now, I still cannot say what concrete measures will be taken, since the situation is being evaluated,” added Sebastião Teixeira.

The collapse affected a zone with about two meters wide of the wall and the cliff below it, causing no material damage to the chapel next to it, nor any casualties.