Albufeira leads the way for the third year running, this year with all of its 25 beaches and Marina awarded a Blue Flag, which is a symbol of beach quality.
To achieve Blue Flag status, beaches must comply with a thorough set of environmental management criteria, such as water quality and services and safety for beach-goers.
This year a Blue Flag will be hoisted on 332 Portuguese beaches – 229 of which are coastal, and the remaining 33, inland river-beaches – which covers more than half (55 percent) of the country’s beaches.
The Algarve took the fattest slice of the awards, with 89, followed by northern Portugal, with 73.
Albufeira Mayor José Carlos Rolo stressed “this recognition is very important due to the visibility it gives us at a national and international level, while on the other hand it represents an increased responsibility to maintain this level of excellence.
“Year after year we have been raising the bar, for which we have counted on the commitment of the Council and all the entities with responsibilities along the coast, who work closely so that the County continues to be recognised for its environmental quality”.
It is worth recalling that, recently, Albufeira made headlines for making Trip Advisor’s annual ranking of the top three preferred national destinations for travellers, with one of the main reasons listed being the quality of its beaches.
Praia da Falésia (Albufeira) was ranked the best beach in Portugal and 12th in the world, while Albufeira’s São Rafael Beach appears fourth on the national table.
Meanwhile, the official beach season started this week for some beaches in Portugal, although for the majority of beaches, the official season only starts mid-May or June.
Cascais, near Lisbon, was one of the first beaches to enter official beach season, and from Tuesday, 1 May, had all services including lifeguards and sun bed concessions at beachgoers disposal.
Cascais’ official beach season lasts until 15 October. Albufeira’s official beach season this year starts on 15 May and lasts until 15 October.
This year the Algarve has one more Blue Flag beach award than it did last year. The number of flags rose from 88 to 89 after Pintadinho Beach in Lagoa recovered the Blue Flag award it had lost last year. Municipality-wise, in the Algarve, after Albufeira, Vila do Bispo has the most beaches with Blue Flags, followed by Loulé.