Last night a total of 46 members working for the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and the GNR Coastal Control Unit carried out a large-scale operation in the Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina Natural Park.
The operation resulted in 190 being reported and fined for misdemeanours, as a result of illegal camping and wild caravanning and parking in locations where this in not permitted.
In a statement, the ICNF notes that “wild camping and caravanning, as well as car parking especially for overnight stays, is a long-identified problem that is a factor in the destruction of habitats on the coast, some of which are protected, and represents an illegal occupation of which results in a degradation of the sites due to uncontrolled disposal of waste that spills into improperly occupied sites. “
In addition to enforcement actions aimed at “discouraging illegal and strongly destructive practices in an area of high natural value, the ICNF is working together with the municipalities of the region concerned in order to develop a policy guide for the creation of more caravan parks, so that tourism can happen legally. ”
For many years now local residents have also complained that the increased abundance of motorhomes has turned parts of the Algarve’s west coast into a "slum with sea views”.
