It is a phenomenon that is “frequent and natural, without consequences for public health”, but Vila Real de Santo António Council have decided to reinforce the cleanliness of the municipality’s beaches, following the appearance of algae “in large quantities” in order to “improve the appearance of our beaches.”
The Vila Real municipality announced that a company by the name of Ecoambiente was going to be responsible for carrying out the removal of the algae from the sands in the night on the 14th and 15th of August, in order to “minimize the inconvenience caused by the presence of algae”.
The municipality emphasizes that these algae pose no danger, but their presence can sometimes 'become unpleasant'. Thus, in addition to the manual cleaning of the beaches, performed daily during the tourist season, and which is complemented with mechanical cleaning every three days (at Santo António and Monte Gordo beach), there will be this effort to remove the algae.
This operation can only be done at night and when the tide allows it though, given the characteristics of the area, the necessary means involved, and the large influx of people.
“Although algae is completely removed from the beach during the night and in the morning, after the tide is filled again, new algae are often washed on to the beaches and the situation remains the same. On the other hand, there are times when the algae removal service is delayed due to the fact that the high tide coincides with the period when the machinery can be circulated on the beach,” pointed out the VRSA Council.
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