Portugal conducts controlled demolition of cliffs. It's about the safety of tourists

Before the start of this year's season in several Portuguese bathing, controlled demolition of slopes threatening sunbathers was carried out. They are increasingly undertaken in addition to the Algarve region popular among tourists, in the south of the country.

Portugal, already with 444 beaches marked with the so -called The blue flag awarded to bathing areas with the highest standards of water purity, takes more and more new actions to increase rest on the beaches.

Cliffs are often a threat there. Threatening the collapse of rock cliffs are increasingly liquidated by local services ahead of time.

According to Fernand Pires from the recreation and cultural management of the Association of residents of the Ericeira ACR region, the municipal authorities have launched a number of activities to check the condition of cliffs near the beaches in recent years.

“These cliffs are particularly dangerous in spring, when after a period of rains and gale, cliffs are more exposed to deformation,” PIES told PAP, reminding that several plaques warning against possible rocks have already been placed on the surrounding beaches.

He added that not only in Algarve, a popular region of Portugal among tourists, but also on the west coast there are inspections of cliff state before the season and – if necessary – their controlled demolition, usually using cranes and drones.

As the fire brigade commander in Paco de Arcos Ricardo Ribeiro said PAP, drones are increasingly used on Portuguese beaches during the beaches inspection.

“This is one of the increasingly numerous functions of these devices more and more common on the Portuguese coast. They are increasingly used for patrolling, cleaning and rescue actions” – added Ribeiro.

In recent years, he reminded, work has been underway to remove cliffs on the beaches of the capital agglomeration. They were carried out, among others At the Avencas beach located west of Lisbon.

The main region of the Nadatlantic Inspection in Portugal, which in 2024 was visited by a record number of over 31 million tourists, remains Algarve. It is also where sunbathing enthusiasts go.

The controls at the Algarve intensified especially after the tragedy near the Albufeira resort, where the sliding rocks in August 2009 killed five sunbathers and two people on the beach Maria Luisa wounded.

In this area at the turn of February and March this year. Firefighters in cooperation with employees of the Portuguese Environment Agency carried out the so -called Controlled demolition of 5,000 weighing tons of part of one of the cliffs. The work covered one of the slopes near the Olhos de Agua beach in the same commune.

From Ericeira Marcin Zatyka (PAP)

Zat/ Mal/