Posted on July 13, 2026
A 14.9 million euro project between Quarteira and Garrão uses dredging in the Atlantic to restore tourist beaches in the Algarve, reduce cliff erosion, and expand the sand strip before the bathing season in Portugal
Portugal began a major coastal intervention in the Algarve in 2026 to try to contain the loss of sand in one of the most pressured stretches of the country’s coastline.
The project involves the deposition of 1.4 million cubic meters of sediments between Quarteira and Garrão, in the municipality of Loulé, with the aim of widening the beach by an average of 37.5 meters.
According to the Government of Portugal, the intervention covers 6.7 kilometers of seafront, is part of the Coastal Zone Management Plan Vilamoura–Vila Real de Santo António, and received an investment of 14.9 million euros, an amount close to R$ 88 million at the recent exchange rate.
The project was planned to be completed before the European bathing season, when the Algarve receives a strong influx of tourists.
The number circulating as “2.2 million tons” comes from the approximate conversion of the official volume of sand. The Portuguese technical source works with cubic meters, not tons, and public documents indicate that the material comes from a nearby underwater area, not from the United States.
