A motorhome parked just twenty centimeters from the edge of the cliff has, in fact, a privileged view over the sea. But, because you are in the Algarve and the cliffs are unstable and could collapse at any time, if this motorhome falls down, causing injuries or deaths, who is responsible?
Don't think this is a hypothetical scenario. Campervan parking on the edge of the cliffs is what happens every day, especially in this chaotic month of August, next to Praia da Marinha, on the coast of the municipality of Lagoa, as the photos well document.
Therefore, the Sul Informação he wanted to know what the official entities and authorities are doing to prevent potentially dangerous situations like this from continuing to happen.
Commander Santos Pereira, captain of the Port of Portimão and therefore local commander of the Maritime Police (PM), contacted by our newspaper, says that jurisdiction over what happens on the coast may be with the PM, «in the range of 50 meters of the maritime public domain', or of the GNR, beyond that band.
What if it's in the range of 50 centimeters or less? “There, it is undoubtedly the jurisdiction of the Maritime Police”, he admits.
So what are the PM agents doing to control the situation of the authentic campervan park parked on top of the cliffs of Praia da Marinha, almost all within the public domain? «We go there from time to time, we send them out. They leave, but the next day it's the same».
And why not fine, apply administrative offenses to offenders? «The administrative offenses are inglorious. Most of these motorhomes are foreign, the agents issue administrative offenses, we have to send the notifications abroad, but most of them end up prescribing, nobody pays for them». In other words, it's not even worth the time and paper that the Maritime Police spend...
And why not force offenders to pay fines on the spot, as already happens in traffic? “The Maritime Police cannot do this, the law had to be changed”.
And, since there are few Maritime Police agents for the immensity of things that go on along the Algarve coast in summer, there are those who manage to vacation in wonderful places, defying danger, trampling vegetation, leaving garbage behind, making fires, cutting down trees to make firewood. Until one day...
Anabela Simão, Councilor for the Environment of the Lagoa Council, expresses her concern about the situation on the cliffs of the municipality, due to the chaos of the motorhomes. Worry…and impotence.
“The Chamber does not have the power to send motorhome drivers out of these places, it has to request the intervention of the Maritime Police or the GNR. But the authorities go there in the morning and in the afternoon it's the same or worse», vents the mayor.
Both at Praia da Marinha and Praia do Carvalho, a short distance away, Anabela Simão notes that the motorhomes go “to the edge of the cliffs, if they could they would go inside the beach. They end up trampling all over the vegetation, opening new paths, they are an enormous overload on the cliff, which in itself already has a great risk of falling».
So what solution is there? «We want to put some obstacles along the access road to Praia da Marinha, so that vans, motorhomes and even cars cannot go over the cliffs. We are still studying what will be the best solution, if it will be to put some boulders there or a wooden fence. But we are afraid that, if it is a fence, they will break everything in an instant, to still have access».
The councilor also expressed her concern about the chaos that has been generated this August in the access to Marinha beach, with the road clogged with poorly parked cars, so that only one sense of traffic is possible. A few days ago, when there was an outbreak of fire in the area, the Lagoa Firefighters' car had to wait more than half an hour for the GNR to come to tow badly parked cars, in order to get out.
"It's a situation that worries us, because if there is a need to pass an ambulance to the beach or a fire engine, it's not possible." Also on Sunday, a French tourist who had an accident on the beach, breaking a kneecap, had to be removed by sea, like the Sul Informação reported.
«This year, the beaches in the municipality of Lagoa have had a much higher demand than in past summers, it has been too much. As for the Navy, we have to think, together with the Portuguese Environment Agency, how to limit the weight on top of the cliff, creating car parks in another area»…or simply limiting access to the beach, using the GNR, as for years it takes place on the beaches of Portinho da Arrábida.
But the solutions, for the wild parking of motorhomes or for the clogged accesses of cars, whatever they are, should only go ahead after the month of August.
Until then, pretend that cases like the cliff on Maria Luísa beach, in Albufeira, that it fell again two weeks ago, and the worst was feared, they are not an imminent danger on the rocky coast of the Algarve. And pray that nothing goes wrong, very wrong.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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