Ecological organisation Almargem has hit out at the Algarve’s regional Environment Agency over its activities at Maria Luísa beach in Albufeira and others, and the ‘continuing cynicism’ shown by the agency over the Algarve's dangerous cliffs.
The latest collapse of 1,000 m3 of rock onto the beach on August 7th, fortunately causing no casualties but again highlights the "reckless and cynical attitude of the regional Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente" (APA.)
The APA maintains that there are only two factors that contribute to these rockfalls: the action of the sea and that of rainwater - "forgetting to mention the influence that human intervention increasingly has had in these cases, due to the illegal building of properties on the edge of the cliffs and, as is the case at Maria Luísa beach, by extensive green areas that are irrigated, which increases natural erosion," according to Almargem.
The rockfall at Maria Luísa in 2015 was "the direct result of the construction of a footbridge and viewing platform on an unstable cliff," a situation denounced at the time by Almargem and one that was never answered.
The APA says that all the beaches under cliffs have signs at the entrance with a map showing the risk zones and some danger signs on the rockfaces to deter sunbathers from lying on the sand under the cliffs.
People largely have ignored these warnings as they do not see, or simply ignore, the signage.
Almargem on several occasions has proposed what it sees as an effective solution, the demarcation of risk areas on beaches by roping off the risk areas above the high tide mark.
The presence of sunbathers in these areas would become more visible and thus people would keep to the safe zones, according to Almargem which believes that the responsible authorities do not want to implement this measure, or any others, as this "would tarnish the supposedly idyllic image of the Algarve with wild and unspoiled beaches able to accommodate the maximum number of people."
In an attempt to balance danger with tourist numbers these public bodies quite cynically are putting beach users at risk and allowing far more people onto beaches than the authorities themselves admit is a safe number.
Dona Ana beach in Lagos, the most emblematic beach in the Algarve, has been machanically altered by APA almost beyond recognition on the grounds of 'tourist safety' so Almargem can not accept the ongoing official stubbornness in not wanting to implement the most basic security measures on those beaches with the most unstable cliffs, such as Maria Luísa.
Sebastião Teixeira of the Portuguese Environmental Agency responded by claiming that human intervention only caused 3% of rockfalls with 78% caused by the action of the sea and of rain.
As for the roping off of danger areas, Teixeira said this is too impractical as the tide keeps changing and suggested people did not sit under those cliffs that had been marked as dangerous.
