Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 12th March 2025
by Mike Evans
Good day to you all across the Algarve. As we continue to experience these very wet days of rain across the region it is also of interest to see that the issue of how well people drive in these conditions is under scrutiny. In the week from the 3rd to the 10th March the GNR conducted across the Algarve with the aim of preventing and combating violent crime, ensuring road inspections and other security actions. During the period, 66 arrests were made in flagrante delicto, including 28 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 16 for driving without a legal license and five for drug trafficking.
As part of the seizures, the GNR also confiscated 159 doses of cocaine, 56 doses of hashish, three electric scooters, six cell phones and a katana. With Regard to the issue of road inspections, 676 infractions were detected, with emphasis on 132 for speeding, 84 for lack of mandatory periodic inspection, 74 related to anomalies in lighting and signaling systems, 24 for lack of civil liability insurance, 18 for improper use of a mobile phone while driving and ten for lack of or incorrect use of seat belts and/or child restraint systems.
In the area of road accidents, 102 accidents were recorded, resulting in one serious injury and 22 minor injuries. While it is not to say all of these road accidents were the result of the weather, there is the fact that over a quarter of the offences were for going too fast and this is one of the main causes of accidents. In my experience for some drivers it doesn’t matter to them if the weather conditions are bad they will continue to drive recklessly no matter the weather. Personally the biggest issue when driving at the correct speeds on the road is the issue of “tailgating”. This practice is prevalent across the major roads whether motorways or others and is both dangerous as well as intimidating for the driver who is tailgating and the victim.
Now a look at some of the other stories across the region.
CTT Van and Cash Disappear Over the Weekend
The GNR is investigating A vehicle and a significant amount of money were stolen from the CTT premises in the Mar e Guerra area, in the municipality of Faro.
According to the newspaper Correio da Manhã , which reported the news this Tuesday, “the crime was apparently committed on Saturday, but it was only detected by company employees on Monday, when they realized that a vehicle had disappeared, as well as a large amount of money”.
The GNR was alerted and is investigating the case through the Criminal Investigation Unit, the same source said. During this Monday, several investigations were carried out to determine the circumstances of the theft that occurred over the weekend.
Murder Suspect Remanded in Custody
The man suspected of having shot dead another man, aged 56, last Tuesday, in Odiáxere, in the municipality of Lagos, was remanded in custody, a police source said. The suspect, aged 28, was arrested on Wednesday by the Judicial Police ( PJ ), and is indicted for the crimes of qualified homicide and possession of a prohibited weapon, the same source said.
According to a note from the PJ, the facts, “for futile reasons”, occurred following a confrontation between the two men, in the vicinity of a Carnival party , which only ceased with the intervention of third parties.
According to the police, the two men crossed paths again at the same place, around an hour and a half later, and started a new argument, “during which the attacker fired three shots, one of which hit the victim in the abdominal region […] which caused his death”.
The suspect then left the scene, later handing himself in at the National Republican Guard post.
“According to the investigation, the attacker and the victim had known each other for a long time and had a history of frequent disagreements,” added the PJ. The detainee was heard this Friday in his first judicial interrogation at the Lagos Court, and was ordered to be held in preventive detention, the most serious coercive measure.
Ambulances Held up at Faro Hospital due to Lack of Beds
A spike in demand at the emergency room at Faro Hospital last night caused several ambulances to be held up. The situation only improved in the morning, after surgeries were postponed in order to free up beds in the hospital .
This Monday, demand in emergency rooms in Faro and Portimão was higher than the average of previous days by more than a hundred people .The peak in attendance caused constraints to the service, which due to a lack of beds, had to keep several patients on stretchers in the ambulances that transported them .
During the night, there was a time when around a dozen ambulances were held up – one of them , at least , for six hours .As morning broke, the situation eased , but the Algarve Local Health Unit still chose to apply the health plan’s guidance for this winter season and temporarily suspend part of the surgical activity .
Since the beginning of the month, demand for emergency services has increased in Faro, Portimão and in the basic emergency services of Albufeira , Loulé, Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António , with peaks especially on Mondays . Contrary to what often happens, the Algarve Local Health Unit says that there have been cases of real emergencies arriving at the services, especially worsening of chronic situations of heart failure and respiratory problems .
Water Levels Rise to 70% Capacity in Western Algarve
The amount of water stored in the western Algarve river basin increased by more than 70% from the end of February to March 10th following the rain that has fallen over the last week in mainland Portugal. This basin is constantly the one that stores the least water, well below the average. According to data available from the National Water Resources Information System ( SNIRH ), the western Algarve river basin rose from 20.7% at the end of February to 35.6%, data up to March 10.
Also in the south of the country, the Mira river basin rose from 40.4% (at the end of February) to 45.4% (on March 10) and the Arade river basin from 41.8% to 50%. Still in the Algarve region, where restrictive measures are in force for water use, the Sotavento river basin was at 86.8% on March 10.
According to SNIRH, in the first week of March (from 3 to 10 March), 69% of the monitored reservoirs had water availability above 80% of the total volume and 5% had availability below 40%.
In the first week of March, storage by river basin was higher than average, except in the Ave, Mondego, Mira, Arade and Ribeiras do Barlavento basins. The amount of stored water fell in two river basins and rose in 13. Each river basin may correspond to more than one reservoir.
Man Arrested For Domestic Violence in Olhao
Police in Olhão arrested a 39 year old man after he entered his ex’s place of work with a knife, making several death threats to her.
The police statement says that the man tried to enter the building, but was initially prevented from doing so by his ex-partners colleagues.
Unhappy with this situation, the man then managed to enter through a door at the back of the building, but was once again prevented from contacting the victim, who was seeking refuge inside a room. The attacker made several threats to the victim, including death threats. The PSP were called to the scene and intercepted the man when he tried to flee. He was detained in possession of a bladed weapon, which was seized from him.
The suspect has been remanded in custody, for committing the crime of domestic violence.
Landslide in Silves Renders Five People ‘homeless’
Five people (two couples and a child) have had to be rehoused after the bad weather battering Portugal in recent weeks caused a landslide in Silves’ historic centre, which dislodged the façade of an ‘old semi-detached house next to the city walls’, leaving the interior of the house visible and open to the elements.
Photographs of the living room, still in place with table and chairs, indicate the vulnerability of the property which has been left with large fissures, cracks and holes in the roof.
André Gonçalves of Silver Fire Brigade told reporters that two adjoining houses were also affected by the incident, and may also require shoring up works. Municipal services are currently ‘assessing’ the situation, which may require further people to be relocated for their own safety.
This was just one of the multiple incidents caused by the effects of ‘depression Jana’ which has brought wind, rain, hail, snow and a lot of maritime ‘agitation’ over the past few days. The western end of the Algarve has been especially hit by rain, which has caused rivers and streams to burst their banks, filled up reservoirs that have been crying out for water and replenishing aquifers.
In certain areas, like Boca do Rio in Vila do Bispo, the sheer volume of rain rushing towards the sea via watercourses caused dunes to give way, seeing a stream that had not flowed into the ocean for years finally do so.
Aljezur, too, has seen so much water racing down from the hills and towards the sea that multiple footpaths have been transformed into rivers. Some roads have had to be closed, but there have been no reports of any major damages.
As SIC remarks, all this is actually “a good indicator for the region, which so desperately needs to recharge its dams: this weekend alone, the Costa Vicentina will have managed to hold over 60 litres of water per square metre”. More rain is expected this week, with general blustery weather. But the true ‘plus’ is that this enormous quantity of rainfall appears to have prompted the government to announce the construction of 14 further dams. A dam had been advocated years ago for Aljezur. Had it been in place, so much of the water that has been lost into the sea after churning through fields in torrents, would have been saved for human/ agricultural consumption in drier times.
Until the next time Stay Safe…
Regarding road safety, the PSP adds that 17,017 drivers were inspected and 52,180 vehicles were controlled by radar, with 5,539 violations of road legislation being detected. “Of the traffic offenses detected, 609 stand out for speeding, 558 for lack of mandatory periodic inspection, 193 for lack of mandatory civil liability insurance, 119 for using a mobile phone while driving, 93 for driving under the influence of alcohol, 50 for lack of or incorrect use of seat belts”.
Also known as the Odiáxere Dam, the structure is located in Lagos, in the Faro district, and was designed in 1955 and began operating in 1958. The project to modernise the Alvor irrigation perimeter will have two phases, the first of which will begin after choosing the company that will build a pumping station and a filtering station, with a reservoir with a capacity to store water for two days, as well as a section of the future main pipeline.
Radars in the Algarve, In the Algarve, radars will be active in several strategic locations and times, including:
In recent years, users of the National Health System (SNS) who had not used the system for five or more years had their primary care registration deactivated, being classified as “non-users”. In addition to inactive primary care registration, these users also lost their family doctor. In January, the publication of another dispatch (40/2025), which also comes into force in April, determined that the update of the primary healthcare lists would take into account the new registration types.
This year, under the theme “ Sustainability ”, the Portimão Carnival is inspired by the adoption of responsible consumption, which allows human needs to be satisfied both in the present and in the future, which sets the tone for the party and in which 13 floats and nine carnival groups will participate, with lots of music and fun.
According to ANSR, recipients of these email messages are informed that they have been fined €120 euros for a traffic violation and are requested to make payment via a link included in the email. However, this is a ‘phishing’ scheme, used to steal users’ personal details and banking details. The emails associated with this fraud look very official and state that the fine must be paid by the end of February. The sender of the email message uses a false identity and includes a link that redirects victims to a fraudulent website, where they are asked to enter banking information.
In addition, Faro and nine other districts on the mainland will be under a yellow warning on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 18th and 19th, due to the forecast of strong sea agitation, according to the warning issued by the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA). The yellow warning indicates a risk for certain activities dependent on the meteorological situation.
The municipality of Faro awarded, last Tuesday, February 11, the acquisition of a new urban fire-fighting vehicle, to be incorporated into the municipal fleet. The investment, with a global value of 484 thousand euros, was awarded to Sociedade Jacinto Marques de Oliveira.
In 2023 and 2024, the Volta ao Algarve was recognised as the best race on the UCI Pro series Circuit, reinforcing its notoriety internationally. This year’s route has been renewed to increase the sporting spectacle and competitiveness, crossing iconic scenarios in the region. The race starts in Portimão and covers nearly 750 kilometres over five stages. Highlights include sprint finishes in Lagos and Tavira and the challenging climb to Fóia via a new slope.