Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 16th April 2025
by Mike Evans
Good day to you all and as we start the Easter celebrations, the warning I gave last week of the clamp down on Drink Driving doesn’t seem to have reached the ears of the general public. Across the country, 307 people were arrested between last Friday and this morning (the first three days of ‘Operation Safe Easter’ which runs until April 21): 179 for road crimes, 104 for drink-driving and 75 for driving without a license. The PSP reports that 3,941 drivers were “inspected and 13,008 vehicles were checked by radar, resulting in 1,231 administrative offences”. A total of 283 notices were issued for speeding, 109 for missing the mandatory periodic inspection (IPO), 49 for not having insurance, 46 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 26 for using a mobile phone while driving and seven for not wearing a seatbelt.
Between Monday and today, the GNR inspected a further 7,264 drivers (28,339 in total during the operation), and 44 were driving under the influence of alcohol, 26 for using a mobile phone while driving and seven for not wearing a seatbelt. As for road accidents, 375 accidents were recorded in these first three days of the campaign, resulting in 125 injuries: four serious, 121 minor and no fatalities (this has since been updated by data from the GNR, rural area police, which recorded 620 accidents, involving two fatalities and 17 serious injuries). In total, the GNR arrested 201 people for driving with a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than 1.2 g/l and 103 for driving without a legal license.
Of the 4,966 traffic violations detected, the GNR highlights 1,323 for speeding, 313 for excessive alcohol consumption and 138 for lack of or incorrect use of seat belts and/or child restraint systems (CRS). There are 150 for improper use of cell phones while driving, 676 for lack of mandatory periodic inspection and 200 for lack of mandatory civil liability insurance.
Whilst this is the situation across the country it does show that the way people drive is still an issue and we encourage people to drive carefully not just over the Easter period but at all times.
Now a look at what has been happening across the region this past week.
Algarve Reservoirs Reach their Capacity
The average storage capacity of the six reservoirs that serve the Algarve is at 88% of their total capacity, a record percentage that is unlikely to be repeated in the coming years, according to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA). “These numbers from the Algarve are a record,” an official source from the APA told Lusa.
The same source emphasises that “now is the time to put all our energy into implementing water resilience projects to prepare the region for the coming years, because this year, let no one have any doubt, was truly an exception.”
The APA recalls that in the last 12 years, rainfall in the Algarve region was below average by around 25-30%, which worsened from 2019 onwards, to 45%.
According to the figures provided, the volume of water stored in the Algarve’s six reservoirs is 393 hm3 (cubic hectometres), which corresponds to 88% of the total capacity.
In Sotavento (east), the Odeleite dam is now at 97% of its capacity (126.50 hm3) and the Beliche dam at 92% (44.32 hm3).
In Barlavento (west), the Odelouca dam has 90% of its capacity (141.46 hm3), the Arade dam 72% (20.31 hm3), the Bravura dam 60% (20.73 hm3) and the Funcho dam 83% (39.59 hm3).
Compared to the same period in 2024, there was an increase of approximately 194 hm3 of stored water: 83 hm3 in Sotavento (corresponding to 43%) and 111 hm3 in Barlavento (corresponding to 57%).
On 14 March, the Government announced an easing of restrictions on water consumption in Faro, with the imposition of 5% reductions on agriculture, the urban sector and tourism.
A22 Shut for 8 Hours Due to Accident
The A22 (Via do Infante) was reopened in the Loulé- Faro direction after a traffic interruption of more than eight hours, due to a goods truck skidding.
Via do Infante reopened to traffic at 2:34 pm,on the 10th April, the time needed, according to Civil Protection, to remove and clean the affected section.
The truck, which was carrying boxes of clothes that were scattered on the road, skidded off the road without causing any injuries, with the alert being given at 5:35 am, reported a source from the Algarve Sub-Regional Command.
The accident took place between the Loulé-centro and Loulé-sul junctions, in the west-east direction of the motorway that connects Lagos and the border with Spain at Castro Marim/Vila Real de Santo António.
A total of 16 firefighters, GNR and personnel providing assistance on Via do Infante were involved in the incident, supported by eight vehicles.
Vehicle Travels Wrong Way on A22 Causes Crash
A light vehicle that entered the wrong lane on Via do Infante (A22) today collided with another, in Albufeira , causing five injuries, all minor. Rescue teams received the alert at 10:25 am, reporting a collision, at kilometer 49 of the motorway, in the direction of Albufeira-Spain, in the municipality of Albufeira.
A source from the Algarve sub-regional command explained that, as a result of the accident, “five victims were assisted, but none of them were transported to a hospital unit”.
The same source added that the five injured were four occupants of one of the vehicles, an 80-year-old man and three women aged 74, 48 and 13, of Portuguese nationality, and the driver of the other light vehicle involved, of German nationality, aged 90. The source highlighted that one of the vehicles was travelling in the wrong direction, stating that this information came to the attention of the emergency teams through the call made to 112 asking for help and was later confirmed on site by the firefighters.
A source from the Public Relations Department of the Faro Territorial Command of the GNR said that the vehicle that entered the wrong way was driven by “a woman of foreign nationality”. The other injured people are the occupants of the other vehicle that was involved in the accident, he added. A team of five vehicles and 12 personnel, including members of the Albufeira Fire Department, the GNR and the A22 concessionaire, were on site to provide assistance.
Train Access Platforms in the Algarve Raised and Standardised
Infraestruturas de Portugal ( IP ) has completed work to raise and standardise train access platforms at 17 stations and stops on the Algarve railway line. The work carried out also provides an “improvement in access conditions to trains for people with reduced mobility”, highlighted Infraestruturas de Portugal in a statement, quantifying the investment made at more than five million euros.
“Infraestruturas has completed the work to raise the passenger platforms at the stations on the Algarve Line”, reported IP, clarifying that the interventions carried out ensured the “standardisation of the elevation of the platforms at the stations” of trains that serve the route between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António.
The work carried out allowed “the improvement of passenger access conditions to and from the train, especially for people with reduced mobility”, he explained.
IP highlighted that “several improvements were also made for users of public rail transport” who now have better “comfort and safety conditions at stations”.
Passengers will find “important improvements in terms of shelters, street furniture and public lighting”, the company indicated, highlighting that “fencing was reinforced and repaired and bilingual signage was renewed”, in Portuguese and English. “The work was carried out in phases, in order to minimize the impact on service levels, with a total of 17 stations and stops being worked on.”
Faro Municipal Police Begins Activity with Community Policing
The Faro Municipal Police began its activity this Tuesday, with the inauguration of the operational headquarters, which will be installed in the space of the former Chocolate café, in Praça da Liberdade (Pontinha).
The municipal police force, which will work in conjunction with the PSP and GNR, will have as its main mission the promotion of security and protection of the well-being of the population, including islands.
Currently operating with a staff of 10 officers, it will work on a single schedule with the prospect of working “24 hours a day” in the future.
At this stage, the functions of the Faro Municipal Police will involve a focus on “proximity and visibility” policing, particularly in terms of events, commerce, schools and
the most vulnerable population (elderly and children). The local authority stresses that, over the coming months, the police force will take on new tools and functions, namely road inspection and municipal regulations.
The municipality of Faro is also running an external competition for the admission of new municipal agents, and should eventually have a staff of 30 agents.
With plenty of Easter Celebrations across the Algarve please remember not to Drink and Drive and Stay Safe. Until the next time….
Here is a list of activities in a few towns and cities where Easter celebrations are taking place over the next week or two. Between the 5th and 20th of April, several places in the city of Portimão will be involved in the celebration of Easter traditions, with the aim of reconciling religious tradition with the joy of celebrating this season with the family. “Live Easter in Portimão 2025” is the program prepared by the municipality to provide two weeks full of different experiences in several emblematic places in the city, where the popular Egg Hunt and the Easter Bunny are highlighted, but also the Selfie Hunt, with several original settings for the images captured by residents and tourists.
The Holy Week celebrations in Tavira include several events. The local authority highlights the Triumph processions, the Burial of the Lord and the Easter Concert. On April 13, Palm Sunday, at 5 pm, the Triumph Procession will take place, departing from the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. “There are records that show that this religious event was already organized, in 1789, by the Carmelite Order of the city of Tavira”, highlights the local authority in a statement.
The Algarve region is the southernmost region of mainland Portugal, with an area of 5.412 km2. The population of the region is served by a single public health center, the “Algarve Local Health Unit”, with two Stroke Units (SUs), strategically located in Faro and in Portimão. The stroke team in Algarve is highly experienced and has gained national and international recognition for its quality of care and research.
This operation, which took place throughout the day and into the evening, involved several areas of police intervention, including the conditions for the stay of foreign citizens in national territory, the inspection of commercial establishments, the detection of serious violations of the Highway Code and the prevention of drug trafficking and consumption, especially in areas where educational establishments are located. The main objective of the action was essentially preventive, with the aim of promoting a deterrent effect on criminal practices and reinforcing police presence on public roads.
The GNR’s Safe Forest 2025 Campaign started on February 1st and will run until November 30th, with the period for marking land due to lack of fuel management running until April 30th.
According to the representative of the Algarve Citrus Operators Association (AlgarOrange), the weather conditions had “an impact on the orchards, with an estimated 30% of production being affected”. However, he explained, Storm Martinho had a “greater impact” on agricultural farms in the windward region, “mainly on livestock producers, with not very significant damage to facilities, sheds and animal drinking troughs”.
A warning to anyone walking along the beaches after all the rain and storms. Dozens of Portuguese Man of War, capable of causing serious skin burns, have been sighted on Portuguese beaches, including Terra Estreita, in Tavira , the responsible authorities warned on Thursday. The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere ( IPMA ) has published an alert for the sighting in recent days of Physalia physalis (nicknamed the Portuguese Man of War due to its shape) on Portuguese beaches “in unusual numbers”, in some cases more than 50 on a single beach.
The effects of Depression Martinho passing through the Algarve were less than expected, with mainly damage caused by strong winds, such as falling trees and removable structures, according to civil protection. According to data from the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), shared by Meteofontes, gusts of 159 kilometres per hour were recorded in Fóia (Monchique), the highest point in the Algarve last night. However, “There are no serious situations and the incidents, mainly caused by the wind, were all resolved within the municipal scope, without the need to send external resources,” the Algarve regional commander of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), Vítor Vaz Pinto, told Lusa.
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