“I ordered the red flags to be lowered after receiving indications from the Portuguese Environment Agency that the water analysis results are favorable,” the commander of the Port of Faro captaincy told Lusa news agency.
Mário Figueiredo specified that “the results are negative for the presence of microorganisms that would prevent bathing activities.”
The red flags had been raised on Wednesday morning at the beaches of Quarteira and Vilamoura, in the municipality of Loulé, due to a possible contamination with wastewater in the Marina of Vilamoura, as revealed by the commander of the Port of Faro Captaincy.
Mário Figueiredo added at the time that the decision was made after receiving a communication from the Portuguese Environment Agency stating that the Quarteira Pumping Station had discharged wastewater into the marina.
“We are facing a potential contamination of the water [for bathing], hence we raised the red flags,” he said then.
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, the Loulé City Council expressed concern about “reputational damage” to the municipality caused by the malfunction at the pumping station, and requested urgent explanations from Águas do Algarve.
On the same day, also in the Algarve, environmental authorities lifted the ban and the recommendation against bathing imposed the previous day at the beaches of Fuseta-Ria, in the municipality of Olhão, and Armação de Pera, in the municipality of Silves, due to possible microbiological contamination of the water.
Quarteira and Vilamoura. Bathing not recommended due to possible contamination
