In a statement, Quercus revealed the list of 440 beaches distinguished with gold quality, “a record number in the history of this award”, which assesses the quality of national bathing waters.

Of the 440 beaches awarded in 2022, 359 are coastal, 72 are inland and nine are transitional, with the Tejo e Oeste region once again recording the highest number of awarded beaches, with 103, followed by the Algarve region, with 86, and the North, with 78.

Marinha beach

The autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira also saw an increase, with 12 and five more awarded beaches, respectively, for a total of 54 and 35.

According to Quercus, 47 more beaches were distinguished in relation to 2021, with the Centre region registering the greatest increase (out of 23 beaches, equivalent to an increase of 85 percent), also highlighting the increase in beaches in the interior with gold quality, 72 in total.

According to the criteria defined for the award in 2022, the water quality has to be “excellent” in the bathing seasons from 2017 to 2020 (the 2021 classifications are not yet known).