The Algarve will have an increase of 206 GNR soldiers between June 15 and September 15 to strengthen security over the tourist season.
"The increase is sufficient, we believe, but we will be vigilant and monitor everything that happens and can provide more teams to reinforce the plan," according to the words of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Miguel Macedo, divulged after a presentation to dignitaries in Faro to which the press were invited and then banned.
For larger events, there will be available an additional pool of 336 officers to monitor and supervise sports and musical events in the Algarve where large numbers of people normally attend. This is 112 officers more than last summer.
There will be 22 more vehicles to help out and extra horses and police dogs but in the case of the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) there will be no increase despite the exponential increase in foot traffic through the Algarve’s airport and in vehicles flooding across the Guadiana Bridge.
These figures were released by the Tourist Board after an event headlined by Minister Miguel Macedo, Desiderio Silva the president of the Algarve Tourism Region, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes the Secretary of State for Tourism and the top brass from the various police forces.
The press was banned from attending the launch of the Algarve Summer Security conference, despite having been invited, on the orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, clearly worried someone might ask an awkward question.
It is widely expected that the increased number of police in the Algarve will help defray some of the costs involved in this operation by an increased presence at the region’s many roundabouts, leading to an increased number of motoring-related fines, especially from unwary tourists.
The conference was a textbook example of how to annoy the very people that are neeeded to spread the good news story of 'more police for the Algarve' - the press.
