Eastern Algarve beaches stripped of sand

Recents heavy seas, tides and strong winds have left a trail of damage and destruction along the Algarve’s eastern coastline.

Tides across the eastern Algarve stripped sand from beaches leaving concessions in ruins, equipment swept away and buildings exposed, especially in the Ria Formosa area of barrier islands.

Captain Pedro Nunes Ferreira from the Port of Olhão said that Culatra's beach was badly hit by the tides, "The sand disappeared and beach equipment was swept away."

At the beach in Fuseta "the first line of umbrellas was dragged away and the sea removed about half the sand leaving 'walls' of 1.5 to 2 metres in the sand."

As for the Farol beach, "about half the sand has disappeared the walkways have been swept away," explained Ferreira.

Farol beach had a large amount of sand dumped on it last year under a Polis Ria Formosa initiative. Many locals said that "come the first storm, the sand will disappear," and it has, highlighting the economic cost of moving sand around the Algarve.

The recent westerly winds combining with high tides caused water to surge through the channels of the Ria Formosa lagoon and raise water levels which scoured sand from normally untouched parts of several popular beaches.

In Cabanas de Tavira the situation was repeated with tides attacking bathing support infrastructure and dragging dozens of umbrellas off to a watery grave.

Strong seas caused the collapse of a cliff and the destruction of boardwalks at several beaches in the Albufeira area.

The weather now has pretty much cleared across the region and the weekend will see the start of clear weather and temperatures rising to mid-20s by the end of next week.

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