Elidérico Viegas, President of the Algarve’s hoteliers association has called for a reduction in the opening hours for bars in Albufeira’s ‘Strip’ to reduce the incidents of violence and rowdy behaviour.
Viegas says that he is worried about the general situation in Albufeira after last Sunday’s disturbances and fighting that triggered a swift police response to clear the area.
Traders have reported incidents of nudity and drunkenness among foreign tourists and say they have had to close shops during the day to avoid assaults and insults.
The 'Invade Portugal', five-day break for young British visitors ended up in disarray on Sunday night with bottles being thrown, two shots being fired by officers to clear the main bar areas and some injuries.
Blaming the local council, Viegas said the problem of late night drunkenness and violence will only be resolved "when the authorities that regulate the period of operation for the bars substantially reduce opening hours."
Referring to the council, Elidérico Viegas said that "it should supervise and act over the illegitimate occupation of public spaces where these bars operate, in addition to supervising the opening hours and the noise laws, as many bars function as discos and not as bars."
Viegas said that this sort of action has reduced problems of drunken misbehaviour in other Algarve resorts which has helped preserve an image of family friendly Algarve destinations and has led to less damage and assault.
"Blaming the hoteliers for bringing these groups here is an attempt to transfer responsibilities to third parties,” said Viegas, calling for urgent change, "for the sake of Albufeira."
Today, a group of 4,000 Dutch tourists arrive in Albufeira, much to the anger of locals who fear a repeat of last Sunday's problems.
The national tourist board says that the current situation in Albufeira does not put the Algarve in a good light and, Desidério Silva, president of the Algarve's tourist board already has stated that "it is urgent to end this scenario in the centre of Albufeira," but offers no solution.
The local traders association has called for more policing in known trouble spots but is happy to continue to compete for tourist euros with cheap drink offers and blaring music, as 'most of the trouble happens in the street.'
Last week's ‘Portugal Invasion' event was presented as a festival with around 1,000 British visitors coming to Albufeira with the promise of "seven days with non-stop sun, sea, alcohol and parties."
Viegas is reaping what his Albufeira hotel members have sown with tens of thousands of beds in an area with hundreds of bars, both sectors keen to compete on price. He now says this situation, "calls into question the image of the county and of the region and is a model of development that has to be rethought so that the Algarve can have "sustainable and competitive tourism," and remains keen to blame everything on the bars, rather than on his members who take the bulk bookings.
It is a popular saying that in many things, 'Portugal is ten years behind Spain' and with the encouragement of the tourist board, hoteliers and bar owners, Albufeira is leading the way in making the destination an alternative to the Spanish costas where moves already are advancing in many resorts to clamp down on bad behaviour by young tourists determined to remain as drunk as possible during their much looked forward to holiday.
See also: 'Sunday night violence - crowd cleared from 'the strip' in Albufeira'
