Starting Thursday and ending Easter Monday, employees of the private security companies Prosegur and Securitas – who, among other tasks, are responsible for passenger and hand-luggage security checks at airports – will be striking for two hours at the start of each shift, which generally start at 4am.
National airport management company ANA advised passengers travelling over the Easter period to keep hand-luggage to a minimum and to expect delays.
At the same time, PSP police will be tightening their vigilance of the country’s airports to “guarantee a sense of safety” over the busy period.
Having started on Wednesday, Operation Pegasus will see more PSP officers patrolling the airports during what is one of the year’s busiest holidays.
Officers will also be staging awareness-raising campaigns as well as keeping an eye out for illegal travellers and drug traffickers.
This comes as the airports ever-rising passenger figures are expected to swell further over Easter.
According to preliminary figures released on Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the number of passengers travelling through Portugal’s airports last year was up 14.3 percent on 2015, to 45.4 million.
The figures were announced as the country braced for an influx of tourists, above all from Spain, over the long Easter weekend. Lisbon, the Algarve and Madeira top the list of Portugal’s most sought-after destinations for Easter breaks.
Earlier this week a service sector group expressed concerns about cleanliness, accessibility and, above all, security in the capital, where an influx in American and Brazilian tourists is fuelling tourism.
“Easter is always a very good time”, the president of the Trade and Services Associations Union, Carla Salsinha, told Lusa News Agency, adding “it’s the start of the summer season and usually brings many Spanish tourists who come to spend the Easter period here because it’s nearby. So we have great
expectations”.
But, she continued: “Our biggest concern, besides keeping the city attractive and clean - with increased care in this tourist season because obviously the more tourists there are the more rubbish is produced - is security, which is undoubtedly always a concern.”
Meanwhile, Portugal’s hotels are looking forward to a bumper weekend in terms of occupancy, with some regions even reporting units being fully booked.
A statement from the Portugal Hospitality Association (AHP) said more than half of its numerous members expect to be busier this Easter than last year, and many said they have already noted a general growth in occupancy figures.
According to the AHP, Porto has already reported an occupancy rate of close to 98 percent, driven by a surge in tourists from the UK and Germany, while the Azores, namely the island of São Miguel, has been another popular choice for an Easter break and is reporting occupancy of close to 100 percent.
The Algarve region has forecast an average occupancy rate in excess of 80 percent.
Elidérico Viegas, head of the Algarve’s largest hotel association AHETA, said “the outlook for demand is upwards of five or six percent on last year”, stressing that some hotels will achieve 100 percent occupancy, especially those geared towards the domestic market.
Mr. Viegas added that the fact that there are school holidays at this time also allows for longer stays.
The president of the Algarve Tourism Board (RTA), Desidério Silva, told Lusa that demand has been consistent throughout the entire region, although the most attractive areas for tourists remain Albufeira, Portimão and Vilamoura.
Elsewhere, Madeira’s hotel occupancy rate is this year expected to be at its highest since 2011.
Up until 16 April, the island’s available hotel rooms were estimated to be around 86.4 percent full, the highest level in the last six years and about 10 percent higher than last year.
Figures from the autonomous region’s tourism board show that this Thursday and Good Friday (13 and 14 April) hotel occupancy on the island may even reach 88 percent.
The most popular establishments are five-star hotels and hotel-apartments followed by four and five-star inns and farmhouse B&Bs on the island.
High occupancy rates have also been reported in the Alentejo and Serra da Estrela (central Portugal).
The average stay throughout the country is of three nights, with the exception of Madeira, where the average booking is of eight nights.
Nationality-wise, Portuguese make up the lion’s share of tourists holidaying within Portugal over Easter, followed by Spaniards, the French, and Britons.