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Portugal's "golden" beaches

The environmental association Quercus classified 381 Portuguese beaches this year with the 'gold quality' award, six more than in 2019, and stated that they considered compliance with the sanitary rules of the Directorate General of Health to be “essential” on the beaches.

Despite the global increase in awards compared to 2019, Quercus notes, through a statement, a decrease in the number of coastal and transition beaches awarded, for the second consecutive year, while inland beaches have obtained 14 more distinctions.

The attribution of the beach rating with 'gold quality' obeys a set of criteria for assessing bathing water, which, according to what was established last year, must have been classified as excellent in the last five bathing seasons (2015 to 2019) and must not have recorded any type of episode of advice or prohibition of bathing or banning the beach in the last year.

Overall, of the 381 distinguished beaches, 321 are coastal, 54 are inland and six are transitional.

The Tagus and West region is again the one that gets the most awards, totalling 102 (12 more than in 2019), followed by the Algarve, with 76 (minus 11), and the North, with 66 (minus eight).

The autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira obtained 43 (four more) and 23 (three more) distinctions, respectively, while the Centre region obtained 42 (five more) and the Alentejo accounted for 29 (one more).

Quercus also appealed to the Portuguese to, in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, do “a timely planning of their trips to the beaches” and to consult the InfoPraia application, from the Portuguese Environment Agency, in order to avoid accumulations in the sand and access to bathing areas.

This Quercus assessment does not involve any application process, based only on the quality of the water on the beaches.

The information used is the official public information provided by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), taking into account only the analyzes carried out in the laboratories of the different regional hydrographic administrations.