Algarve tourism will raise 91 Blue Flags for the 2023 Summer Season

Source: Turismo do Algarve

There are now a total of 85 blue flags on beaches, four in marinas, and two in eco-tourism boats. Albufeira is the Portuguese municipality with the most awarded beaches. 

The European Blue Flag Campaign is recognized as an eco-label, by the European Commission and the United Nations Environment Programme. The awards are assigned annually to the beaches and marinas that meet a set of environmental criteria such as safety and comfort of users, environmental information, and awareness.

In total, the international jury of the Blue Flag Association of Europe (ABAE) awarded the prize to 394 beaches, 17 marinas and marinas and 21 ecotourism boats, a number that now puts Portugal in 6th place among the 50 countries under the Blue Flag Program.

According to the official board of Algarve Tourism, this reinforces the importance of the climate conditions and ocean waters as one of the major tourist attractions in the region. To ABAE, Albufeira is the leading Portuguese municipality in Blue Flags, with a total of 26 awards displayed over 25 beaches and in the local marina.

For João Fernandes, President of Turismo do Algarve, the prize represents “the recognition of the work that has been developed over the years in the 13 municipalities with coastline beaches in the Algarve, both for the investment in the gradual improvement of beach conditions and the growing concern with the preservation of bathing water quality".

The Blue Flag Program is an educational program for sustainable development, promoted in Portugal by the European Blue Flag Association, the Portuguese section of the Foundation for Environmental Education.

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