This year’s bathing season will have six more supervised bathing beaches, totaling 595, in a progressive opening that begins on the May 1st holiday in the municipality of Cascais and in some places in Madeira.
According to a note from the office of the Minister of Environment and Energy, in 2024 there will be a total of 664 bathing beaches, also six more than in 2023, with 595 bathing beaches guarded by lifeguards.
The bathing season each year is defined in an ordinance published in the Diário da República, which identifies bathing waters and the respective season, considering until publication that at national level the bathing season runs between May 1st and October 30th. Between these dates, municipal councils determine when the bathing season begins and ends in their territory, with some opting to start earlier and end later.
This year’s ordinance has already been signed by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, and is awaiting publication in the Diário da República (DR).
The number of bathing beaches may increase as long as, among the bathing waters identified in the ordinance, assistance to bathers during the bathing season is guaranteed by concessionaires and entities, according to the government note.
The opening of the bathing season will be progressive, starting today in the bathing waters of the municipality of Cascais and in some of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, moving on May 15th to the municipality of Albufeira.
On June 1st it opens in most bathing waters in the center and south of the country and on the 15th of the same month, most of those in the north join them.
In inland waters, the beginning of the bathing season occurs between June and July.
The ministry’s document explains that, as with the opening, the closure of the bathing season will be progressive from the end of August and will last until October 31, with the closure of the last bathing waters located in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) will carry out analyzes throughout the bathing season to assess whether the quality of bathing water is suitable for bathing.
The National Maritime Authority will have a device on the ground with 27 lifeguard stations, more than three dozen boats and 25 maritime rescue motorcycles, in addition to four dozen vehicles and various other means under the Seawatch, Praia Saudável and Praia Segura projects. , with the involvement of the Maritime Police.
The “Info Praia” application is active again this year to facilitate, anywhere and quickly, access to updated information about bathing waters.
The president of the Blue Flag Association of Europe, José Archer, today defended the extension of the official period of bathing surveillance, considering that ideally it should cover all weekends with good weather, to reduce the number of accidents, an alert that has also been endorsed by the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards.
