Algarve authorities are finishing preparations for the opening of the bathing season, which officially begins on June 1, except for Albufeira which started on May 18.
The 25 beaches of the municipality of Albufeira are the first to open during the summer season, which will continue until October 20, making it the municipality with the longest official bathing season.
According to the commander of the Southern Maritime Region, authorities are now concluding the security plans which aim to reinforce the number of patrolling life-guards and vehicles on the beaches and, therefore, make them safer.
These plans are legally obligatory but they are only implemented on beaches where concessionaires choose to do so, he explained, stressing that this year they will only be applied in Portimão and Lagos.
“The plan is put into practice when beach concessionaires of a certain area get together to try to make up for the reduced number of lifeguards,” said Eduardo Malaquias Domingues.
He added that when the plan is not implemented, the concessionaires take full responsibility for security.
Until the beginning of the bathing season, authorities are conducting inspections of the various beach facilities in order to issue the necessary licences for the concessionaires to operate.
The majority of the Algarve municipalities have chosen to maintain their bathing season during the official period, from June 1 to September 30. However, there are some cases where the duration was reduced by about a month, such as in Faro, where the season goes from June 15 to September 15.
Some concessionaires of Faro and Loulé beaches, among others, also asked to open their seasons earlier, some during the month of March.
Albufeira is the only municipality in the Algarve that has extended its season on all of its beaches.
