Quercus specifies that, of the 420 “Golden Quality” beaches, 349 are coastal beaches (83 percent), 61 inland (15 percent), and 10 are transitional beaches (2 percent).

The Tagus/West and North regions have the most beaches, with 103 and 81 beaches, respectively, and in the Tagus/West beaches, 76 are coastal, 26 inland, and one transitional.

Of the 81 award-winning beaches in the North, 66 are coastal, 26 are inland and one is transitional.

The North and the Azores (60 beaches distinguished) were the regions that recorded the biggest increase compared to last year (16 more and 14 more awards, respectively), followed by the Center and Tejo/West regions (with five more awards each) and Alentejo (with three more awards).

The Algarve was the area with the steepest decline, with 16 fewer beaches awarded, motivated, in most cases, “by non-compliance with the criteria relating to the analyses carried out in the 2023 bathing season”, explained Quercus.

According to the association, there were “some persistent levels of pollution in the Algarve, which are not entirely clear, but to which the impact of tourist pressure in this region may have contributed”.

This year, the Algarve has 69 “Golden Quality” beaches, of which 68 are coastal and one is transitional.

The environmental association says that this year there were nine debuting bathing areas with “Golden Quality”, three in the Center, two in the Azores, one in the Tagus/West region, one in the Algarve, one in Madeira and one in the North.

The “Golden Quality Beach” award annually distinguishes the quality of bathing water on Portuguese beaches, based on available official public information, taking exclusively into consideration the analyzes carried out in the laboratories of the different Regional Hydrographic Administrations, according to Quercus.

To receive the distinction, bathing water must meet several criteria, such as “excellent” water quality in the annual classification of the five bathing seasons prior to the last. All analyzes carried out in the last bathing season (2023) should have shown better results in several bacterial indicators.