The red flag has again been hoisted at the Fishermen's Beach in Albufeira as a discharge of sewage into the sea caused stench and a health hazard to bathers on Friday, July 8th.
Holidaymakers were alarmed to smell raw sewage and locals questioned why it took so long for red flag to be hoisted when the local water company knew the timing of its early morning discharge.
Beaches in Albufeira that are covered by the red flag ban have the coveted Blue Flag status* despite suffering pollution from the inadequate Waste Water Treatment Station run by Águas do Algarve.
The station fails properly to treat sewage at peak times and instead discharges it into the sea through an outfall near beaches that are packed with tourists and locals enjoying a supposedly clean environment.
The decision to dump sewage usually is excused by 'mechanical failure' at the treatment plant with the resultant impact on health and environment.
Albufeira is not the only site where Águas do Algarve, regulatory bodies and local councils see fit to allow sewage to flow unimpeded into supposedly safe areas.
For years the treatment station between Olhão and Faro has been discharging an unspeakably foul slurry into the Ria Formosa, a protected area under Natura 2000 and subject to a host of national laws.
In Olhão itself, the council allows a steady flow of sewage into the Ria Formosa next to the ferry ticket office where people queue to visit the pristine islands of Armona, Culatra and Farol. This totally illegal raw sewage outlet is 50 metres from the headquarters of the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA), 70 metres from the Captaincy of the Port of Olhão and approximately 90 meters from the headquarters of the GNR and its nature protection arm, SEPNA.
There are more examples, such as the hidden toxic sewage discharge point at the ruins of the tidal mill at Pé da Horta da Areia near Faro docks, another environmental protection zone. Faro president Rogério Bacalhau says that Faro has no direct sewage outlets into the waters of the Ria Formosa, but truth again seems to present him with a challenge.
The problems are not only for the bathers and beachgoers of Albufeira, the shellfishermen of the Ria Formosa are affected as harvesting is often prohibited due to pollution levels which are increasing as the Ria Formosa silts up while the sewage continues to flow.
Every national and local authority that should be involved has turned a blind eye, the polluters go unpunished and the danger to health from these environmental and economic crimes is real – this is what the legislation is designed to prevent.
This deliberately hidden aspect of Portugal’s ‘tourist offering’ rears its head when any of the Algarve's tourist beaches have to be closed due to raw sewage discharge, but the problem is there twelve months of the year.
With thanks to Olhão Livre which almost single-handedly points out environmental crimes that should be punished and the polluters brought to book.
http://olhaolivre.blogspot.pt/2016/07/alerta-em-albufeira-varias-praias-com.html
*Blue Flag status for water quality
- Compliance with the requirements and standards for excellent bathing water quality
- No industrial or sewage related discharges may affect the beach area
- Compliance of the community with requirements for sewage treatment and effluent quality
- Algae or other vegetation should be left to decay on the beach unless it constitutes a nuisance
