Posted on August 10, 2026
By Lusa Agency
The most urgent investments to repair the damage caused by the storms of January and February of this year on Portuguese beaches have been completed, while other less prioritized investments will continue until 2028, the Minister of the Environment said today in Ericeira.
“The most urgent ones have been done. They were done before the bathing season. There are several works that were considered less urgent that will continue,” Maria da Graça Carvalho told reporters, recalling the previously defined schedule.
Among the most urgent projects already completed, the governor highlighted the Works on Forte Novo beach, in Quarteira, municipality of Loulé (15 million euros), and in Costa da Caparica (10 million euros), in the municipality of Almada.
Asked about the report released on Thursday by the Portuguese Environment Agency, according to which “41% of the monitored beaches have recovered or exceeded the average values for width and sediment volume, while 59% remain below these reference values, highlighting the persistence of sediment deficits in a significant part of the analyzed locations,” the minister clarified that there are works planned until 2028, with funding from the Operational Program for Climate Action and Sustainability 2030.
“We expect most of them to be completed next year. But we’ve already done a lot this year, and anyone going to the beaches can already see that. Someone said I was very concerned about giving the Portuguese people a good summer, and I am,” she said.
There are ongoing projects that are less prioritized and have lower associated costs, including the one at Algodio beach in Ericeira, in the municipality of Mafra (Lisbon district), which he visited.
“This is one of the areas that worried us the most, and now it will be much safer,” he emphasized.
In addition to “remedying past mistakes,” the governor explained, the works aim to “provide greater safety to all the dwellings that are on top of the cliff” and to those who frequent the beach.
The intervention, which began in May, has a cost of 1,1 million euros and is expected to be completed in October.
In the south of the country, following the emergency intervention to replenish sand on the Algarve beach of Fuseta, another “more structural” intervention is planned starting in October, with an investment exceeding “one million euros”.
The Minister of the Environment stressed that the works, in addition to guaranteeing safe conditions on many beaches, are fundamental to attracting tourists and thus contributing to the local economy.
The storms that hit the mainland for about three weeks, between the end of January and February of this year, caused at least 19 deaths and several hundred injuries, displaced and displaced people, causing the total or partial destruction of thousands of homes, businesses and equipment, the fall of trees and structures, the interruption of electricity, water and communications, floods and inundations, with losses amounting to billions of euros.
The municipalities in the Central, Lisbon and Tagus Valley, and Alentejo regions were the most affected.
