The Portuguese beach municipalities are one of the least affected by coronaviruses in the world, there are even small councils where not a single case has been detected since the pandemic reached Portugal on March 2. It is a curiosity because the virus is not a kind of caravel (jellyfish), which is seen to come; It can come with bathers, that is, the crowding of people increases the risk of contamination in a place as clean as the beaches of the Portuguese Atlantic.
The Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) has calculated the people that fit on each beach to be a safe space this summer and, miraculously, they fit more than last year. By virtue of this herculean work (the dunes and the tidal period have been counted), the popular São João de Caparica can accommodate 12,200 people, when last year, according to the same source, there were 5,770 people. For a safe bath, it is not necessary to consult their website (apambiente.pt), but to follow good judgment, such as avoiding urban beaches at weekends, especially the lively Carcavelos, 20 kilometers from Lisbon. More practical is the appInfo Praia (infopraia.apambiente.pt), which details in real time the occupation of each sandy area with a traffic light. Red does not mean that the arrival of more bathers is prohibited, although there may be recommendations from the maritime authority to go to other places or return later.
Discarding urban beaches and the islands of Madeira and Azores, the country ensures since 1 July (when the borders with Spain reopen) sands without stress, even deserts (the same as the previous summers). But if we point to the councils that have not registered any case of covid, these are the only ones, from north to south, in continental Portugal.
Óbidos, lagoon and sea
15 kilometers from this charming little town north of Lisbon is the Buen Suceso beach, among others. This, however, is the most popular, especially if you are going with children, since the sea meets the lagoon providing tranquility and warm water, in addition to having some houses with tarps that protect from the sun (although it is in question if deleted for health security reasons). The ocean side is wild and cold, but it also has its followers.
Sines, infinite sand
Sines is the southern tip of a 55-kilometer-long sandy area that, to the north, ends on the Troia peninsula. In between, exceptional beaches. The pandemic has not been primed in their councils, just a few dozen cases, so for the least fearful they are just as recommended. The ideal area for surfers is São Torpes. It is long, clean and with some good restaurants at the (hidden) accesses. For those who are more than lying in the towel, Vierinha is perfect, although it is better to look only towards the sea; on the opposite side, a huge petrochemical breaks any idyll. From Sines upwards there is no urban beach, not even a village one. They are isolated sands with a unique charm, like Melides and Santo André, both with lagoons that allow the change of water and temperature just by crossing a dune.
Further north, the Aberta Nova highway and above that of Pego —until they fell into judicial and social disgrace, an almost private beach belonging to the Espírito Santo family—, with covered pay parking and near the Sal restaurant (restaurantsal.pt). Nearby, Carvalhal beach and its restaurant offer the same at a lower price. After the recommended Comporta beach, you reach the point, Troia. In this part, another wealthy Portuguese family, the Azevedos, built a skyscraper hotel in the middle of what must have been a paradise. The Spanish Sandra Ortega, daughter of Amancio Ortega, founder of the Inditex empire, has bought 340 hectares from the Azevedos and promised to build something more respectful with the environment.
Secret wonder in Aljezur
This municipality has nine beaches, but Monte Clérigo conquers anyone's heart. The arrival by car from a stop has no competition. The sand invades the road before reaching the parking lot, where the rush and noise are parked. Surfers are more from Arrifana, sandy area under a walled town, and families with children, from Odeceixe, since it collects the mouth of the river of the same name, with the advantages that this duplicity brings. But a sunset at Monte Clérigo is always remembered.
The two coasts of Vila do Obispo
Epicenter of the Vicentine Coast, Vila do Bispo is the only council in the country with a southern and western coast, a great advantage in the changing climate and frequent fogs in the area. For the best shelter you have to choose between the beaches of Burgau, Cabanas Velhas, Boca do Rio, Salema, Figueira, Furnas, Zavial, Ingrina, Barranco, Martinhal, Mareta and Beliche. North of the Cape of San Vicente, on the west coast, Telheiro, Ponta Ruiva, Castelejo, Cordoama, Barriga and Murração are more rugged.
These councils with zero viruses and wonderful beaches are not usually the most frequented, as most prefer the southern Algarve, including politicians. There is no danger if the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is seen on the beach of Gigi or in the populous of Portimão, and the former Minister of Finance, Mário Centeno, on the beach of Monte Gordo and in Tavira, already bordering Huelva, summer scenes of his childhood in Olhão, which has also escaped the pandemic (just 12 cases in three months).
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