Algarve Tourism says regulation of access to Benagil Caves has increased safety

André Gomes, president of Turismo do Algarve , spoke to the Lusa news agency about the results of a meeting this week, in Lagoa, to take stock of maritime-tourism activity in the Benagil Caves, and considered that the balance «is positive, as could be seen in the first summer with restrictions on access, in 2024», he considered.

The person in charge explained that the meeting in question was promoted by the entity he directs and by the Portuguese Association of Congress, Tourist Entertainment and Events Companies ( APECATE ), with the participation of the captain of the port of Portimão and regional environmental and land-use planning entities, and precedes the publication of an announcement that will only have to be revised to include some “adjustments” regarding 2024.

“Last year, we held this meeting to help the port captain draft the notice that came to regulate the activity of Benagil, starting last year. And this meeting, in essence, served to, once again, together with all the public entities and companies, therefore, the maritime-tourism operators, assess the result of this notice, of the measures that were foreseen […] and how effective they were”, he explained.

André Gomes said that, during the meeting, it was possible to verify the success and effectiveness of the established rules, which allowed improvements both in terms of the experience of tourists and in terms of visits to the caves for maritime-tourism operators.

For the president of Turismo do Algarve, the consultation work carried out was a «success from the point of view of regulating access to the Benagil cave», located on the coast of the municipality of Lagoa, and which, until the entry into force of access restrictions, was visited without limits or rules, putting people's safety and the environmental sustainability of the area at risk.

“We no longer have those permanent occurrences that we had been having of too many boats, of the mixing of boats with non-motorized vehicles, such as kayaks, with people swimming, so, in fact, it was possible to see that, with the implementation of these [conditioning] measures, these situations completely stopped happening”, he highlighted.

With the results achieved, “it is natural, normal and desirable” that the model applied to regulate visits to the Benagil caves be extended, “in a more generic way, to maritime-tourism activity along the Algarve coast”, he added.

The measures to be adopted in the new notice to regulate access to the caves “will almost all be maintained”, compared to 2024, and only “very specific” changes will be made, in matters such as the “number of vessels that can remain inside the cave”, which was “reviewed” and “put into practice” in 2024, or the reduction in fines applied to individuals who commit infractions, which anticipated an “astronomical” amount, he exemplified, without specifying how much.

The work carried out shows that, "within the tourism sector, it is possible to work together" to ensure the "safeguarding" of safety and sustainability and "to reconcile the growth of a fundamental activity for the region and the country, which is the tourism sector", with the "preservation and promotion of the sustainability of the offer and the preservation of our resources", he stated.

Photo: AMAL.