This year, Portugal has 440 Blue Flag beaches, marinas and vessels, eight more than in 2023, making it the second country in the world with the highest number of awarded river beaches, announced the Blue Flag Europe Association.
The announcement was made at the Vasco da Gama Aquarium, in Dafundo, municipality of Oeiras, district of Lisbon, by the president of the European Blue Flag Association, José Archer, who said that in the next bathing season, 398 beaches, distributed across 103 municipalities.
A beach awarded a Blue Flag complies with several criteria, including water quality and space (planning), security and services, surveillance and people’s awareness (environmental education).
The person responsible considered it “good news” that the number of beaches, marinas and boats with Blue Flag “has grown again”, pointing out that the beaches are “set back to reach 400”.
José Archer also highlighted the “continuous growth of inland beaches”, admitting that they are “naturally much more sensitive, more difficult to reach and maintain”.
“Portugal stands out enormously in terms of inland beaches. We are, worldwide, the second country with the most inland beaches [fluviais]with 49, more than double that of Spain and Italy, is a number that deserves to be highlighted”, he added.
In terms of coastal beaches, the official highlighted that the number of beaches on the Portuguese coast with Blue Flag “is fully consolidated”, stressing that it is “growing as new beaches are designated”.
Regarding the loss of the Blue Flag, José Archer said that all situations, compared to last year, took into account the quality of the water, and in the case of Zambujeira do Mar it is related to the impact of the summer festival taking place in the locality in southwest Alentejo, in the municipality of Odemira, district of Beja.
On the “more sensitive” river beaches, he added, all it takes “upstream is an accident or spill and it ends up having an impact on water quality.”
“These are specific situations, which is a shame because they end up spending a year without being able to raise the Blue Flag, it is also a warning about people’s behavior that sometimes a reckless attitude leads to a community’s efforts going down the drain” , he said.
At an international level, Portugal occupies second place in terms of ecotourism vessels awarded, with 23, with 19 marinas also being distinguished. In these two categories there were two more distinctions than last year.
North with more award-winning beaches
The official ceremony to raise the first Blue Flag on a coastal beach will take place on Fontinha beach, in Porto Santo, Madeira, on June 1st. The first raising of the Blue Flag on a river beach will take place in Agroal, Ourém, in the district of Santarém, on June 7th. The first marina where the Blue Flag will be raised will be at Porto de Recreio da Calheta, in Madeira, on May 31st.
The distinguished coastal and river beaches are distributed across the North (89, two more than last year), Center (48, one more), Tagus (75, one less), Alentejo (38, one less), Algarve (86, plus one), Azores (45, plus one) and Madeira (17, plus one).
The Blue Flag Program is an education program for sustainable development, promoted in Portugal by the Blue Flag Association of Europe, the Portuguese section of the Foundation for Environmental Education.
The bathing season each year is defined in a decree, published in the Diário da República, which identifies the bathing waters and the definition of the respective season, considering that, at national level, it runs from the 1st of May until the 30th of October.
