According to the environmental association, the current data indicates a nearly fifty percent reduction in the number of bathing water areas with similar problems compared to last year, which had 31 problematic areas.
Zero reports that there are currently 673 monitored bathing waters, with a “limited number of beaches revealing problems.”
In mainland Portugal, where there are 526 bathing waters, between May and July, 34 advisories against swimming were recorded, three more than in 2024, with 21 due to microbiological contamination, affecting a total of 27 bathing waters.
In the Autonomous Region of Madeira, there have been four advisories against swimming, according to Zero, while in the Azores, available data indicates the absence of any restrictions.
In August, 13 situations of advisories or bans on swimming have been recorded, five of which were confirmed to be due to microbiological contamination.
In these bathing areas with microbiological contamination, Zero mentions “exceeding the nationally fixed limits for at least one of the two microbiological parameters evaluated (Escherichia coli and Enterococus intestinais).”
Matosinhos beach recorded the highest number of unsuitable water situations, with three advisories or bans and one prohibition lasting almost two weeks.
According to Zero, issues affecting the bathing water of Angeiras Norte, also in the municipality of Matosinhos, led to a period of swimming advisories and beach closures, making this municipality the one with the most significant water quality issues in the country.
The environmental association highlighted the recent situation at Nazaré beach, where a discharge associated with the sanitation system led over 100 people to seek health services. It serves as “a clear warning for responsible entities to make a greater effort to prevent this type of contamination risk to nearby beaches.”
At Angeiras Norte beach in Matosinhos and Labruge beach in Vila do Conde, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) identified “industrial discharges” in the Onda River, affecting adjacent beaches at its mouth, “demonstrating the importance of monitoring and compliance from companies regarding wastewater.”
In the Algarve, the advisories at Alagoa — Altura and Praia Verde beaches in Castro Marim indicate, according to Zero, a need to “complement the already extensive national sampling efforts with extra samples.”
The environmental association believes that on these and other beaches “with a low frequency of sample collection due to a history of excellent quality, undetected pollution episodes may occur.”
None of the 81 beaches classified by the association as Zero Pollution Beach (bathing areas with no contamination detected in analyses over the last three bathing seasons) were affected by advisories or prohibitions related to exceeding microbiological parameters, based on all available data.
The data were collected by Zero from monthly situation updates conducted by the APA and the Directorate General of Health (DGS) for bathing waters in mainland Portugal.
