The summer season, which ended in mainland Portugal in October, recorded 70 bans on bathing on beaches from north to south, 58 of which in the Center, Tagus and West regions, according to data from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).
These two regions had 58 bathing bans, 30 on beaches in the Tagus and West, where the summer season began in May, and 28 in the Center.
In the Tagus and West, the beaches in the municipality of Cascais, in the district of Lisbon, were the most closed, while in the Center they were those in the municipality of Arganil, in the district of Coimbra.
In addition to the beaches in these regions, those in Algarve had nine of them banned from bathingthose in the North two and those in Alentejo one.
The 70 bathing bans that occurred between May and October were due to the presence of intestinal enterococci, ‘Escherichia coli’ (E. coli), cyanobacteria and salmonella in the water, said the APA.
August was the month with the highest number of closures (28), followed by July (25), June (7), September (5), May (3) and, finally, October (2).
The beaches in the Center and South of the country were those that were most closed during this bathing season, but those in the North led the way in advising against bathing.
During these months, there were 56 discouragements, of which 31 in the North, nine in the Algarve, eight in the Tagus and West, six in the Alentejo and two in the Center.
In the North region, Matosinhos, in the district of Porto, was the municipality that had the most lack of advice (7), followed by Espinho, in the district of Aveiro, and Caminha, in the district of Viana do Castelo, with three each.
The greatest number of discouragements occurred in July (22), followed by August (17), June (6), October (5) and May (3) and September (3).
The 56 advised against bathing that occurred between the months of May and October were due to the presence of intestinal enterococci, ‘Escherichia coli’ (E. coli), works, opening of the river to the sea, discharge of contaminated water and wastewater and failure of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).
The 2024 bathing season opened on May 1st, in the municipality of Cascais, in the district of Lisbon, and in some places in Madeira, and ran until October 31st and municipalities can establish, within that period, the specific season for each area.
Between these dates, municipal councils determined when the bathing season began and ended in their territory, with some opting to start earlier and end later.
This year, 516 bathing waters were identified in mainland Portugal: 362 coastal or transitional waters and 154 interior waters.
In addition to these, there are 88 in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and 60 in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
Throughout the bathing season, analyzes are carried out to assess whether the quality of bathing water is suitable for bathing.
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