“At the moment, I am not ruling out [the possibility of sabotage], because we have a set of factors to analyze to understand if there is a case to pursue,” stated the mayor of Nazaré, Manuel Sequeira, following a sewage pipe blockage that led to the prohibition of swimming in the northern area of Nazaré Beach on Tuesday.
“We are gathering information and trying to understand what is happening,” said the mayor of this municipality in the district of Leiria, acknowledging that “there are many strange things occurring: it is a fact that there are many people familiar with the system, perhaps even some better than us, and it is a fact that we are experiencing something abnormal.”
The issue involves a blockage in the sewage pipe near Praça Manuel Arriaga, causing effluent overflow for approximately an hour and a half, which led to the beach swimming ban as a preventive measure.
The mayor acknowledged the need for “a significant investment in the pipes, which are over 50 to 60 years old,” as they cannot cope with the “heavy tourist pressure” that Nazaré experiences during this time of year.
According to Manuel Sequeira, the situation is worsened by the inappropriate actions of some individuals, “as it is not normal to find kitchen rags, scourers, wipes,” and other materials causing blockages in those pipes.
Cleaning of the pipe is currently underway, but “the problem is very difficult to solve without a significant investment,” which has already been made in the southern part of the system but “has been postponed in the north, where in 2020 a similar incident occurred,” during which a “beach towel” was removed from the pipe, for example.
This is the second beach closure to swimming since the beginning of the month, after swimming was prohibited on August 1 due to a discharge in storm drains. Following that incident, 116 people received treatment at the Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Leiria Region with symptoms related to water contamination.
This time “there are no recorded cases of symptoms in people, nor should there be, as the discharge was quickly detected,” explained the mayor, who expects to have the results of analyses requested from the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge by the end of today.
However, in a statement, the Left Bloc (BE) warned that, “according to information gathered locally, there are reports of people needing hospital assistance.”
Lusa questioned ULS Leiria regarding requests for assistance related to this incident but has yet to receive a response.
These incidents confirm “that the old sewage pipe, which should have been disconnected from the sewage network years ago, remains operational,” which the Left Bloc deems “intolerable, endangering not only public health but also the local economy, heavily reliant on beach tourism.”
In the statement, the BE demands “the immediate and permanent closure of the old pipe near the rock area, the urgent and secure adaptation of Nazaré’s sewage system to prevent such situations from recurring, and the public disclosure, with complete transparency, of water quality analyses and corrective measures in progress.”
“The safety of the population and visitors must always be above any other consideration,” concludes the BE, arguing that Nazaré “cannot allow severe sewer network failures to compromise people’s health and the area’s image as a top tourist destination.”
