As the region fills with seasonal motorcaravans, the Algarve and Alentejo Campsite and Caravan Park Association demands that owners should be told to leave cliff-tops, beaches and forests.
The association has asked Vila do Bispo council to create "a system of physical barriers and information boards in various languages to prevent caravans from staying overnight on the cliffs, beaches and in the region’s pine forests."
Through a letter addressed to the municipality, the association’s, Miguel Santos, calls for the GNR to do its job and enforce the existing law, as a failure to comply with the law, damages and undermines the natural park in the Vila do Bispo council area, because it gives the impression that the laws covering the park are only there to control residents and not visitors.
Santos lists the advantages that for motorcaravanners spending the night in legal spaces.
On the one hand, "we must not forget that part of the VAT generated in a municipality belongs to the municipality. If there are no clients in the legal spaces, this is money that the municipalities don’t receive.”
"If all the tourists are properly registered in legal spaces are counted for statistics" the central government can decide how to apportion funds in the safety and health areas.
Santos notes that all foreigners entering registered campsites are required to be registered with the Foreigners and Borders Service. If they go ‘wild camping’ this registration is not done, "we end up not knowing visitors’ nationalities and not knowing their fiscal and criminal history."
It is a source of deep regret to Miguel Santos and his association members that many municipalities across the Algarve are not covered by the laws that pertain to those camping in the Costa Vicentina national park, even though these laws are not being enforced.
It is not surprising that the registered caravan park owners are fed up with the lack of effort by the authorities as the prevalence of wild camping reduces their income and can lead to rubbish-strewn clifftop carparks and the discharge of sewage tanks into drainage systems.
The Algarve’s tourist board lists 26 authorised caravan parks and campsites, and was one of the bodies involved in the launch of the January 2015 ‘Algarve Motorhome Support Network’ (RAARA) along with the Algarve Regional Development and Coordination Commission (CCDR Algarve), the Algarve Tourism Associaton (ATA) and the Algarve Inter-municipal Community (AMAL).
This RAARA scheme offers a list of official camping sites and secure motorhcaravan servicing areas but only 30% of visiting caravanners stay at one of these official sites.
The market is too large for councils to upset, with 120,000 to 150,000 visiting motorcaravans visiting the region annually.
Olhão council actively encourage illegality with two unofficial sites in prime waterside locations, one being opposite the city’s GNR station.
The authorities do police this activity, but sporadically and causing much huffiness as many motorcaravanners enjoy the freedom of travel without the imposition of registering their details every time they overnight at an official site - plus the cost of doing so.
Certainly, the launch of the 2015 initiative has done little to regulate this niche market sector which largely is left alone due to the income it brings in during the low season.
