Portugal’s Federation of Beach Concessionaires has pushed back against claims by the country’s Environment Minister that operators are acting abusively by preventing beachgoers from placing parasols in front of concession areas, insisting that businesses are simply complying with rules laid down by the authorities.
The controversy follows comments made on Monday by José Pimenta Machado during a visit by the environment minister to Praia do Garrão, in the municipality of Loulé. Mr Pimenta Machado described the practice of banning parasols in front of beach concessions as “an abuse” and announced that the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) would issue formal guidance this week clarifying the rules.
“The only area that is subject to concession is the one clearly marked by that rectangle and nothing more, let that be absolutely clear. Everything else is for free public use,” the APA president said at the time.
In comments to the press, Paula Vilafanha, president of the Federação Portuguesa de Concessionários de Praia (FPCP), said she was “surprised” by remarks made by the minister, arguing that there should first have been “consensus and coordination between the authorities” before concessionaires were publicly accused of “abusive behaviour”.
Ms Vilafanha argued that the wider issue at stake was “the organisation of the coastline”, stressing that beaches are structured through concession systems.
“Beach support areas, the designated zones containing sun loungers, awnings, huts, or any other form of shade structure, are all organised,” she explained.
“Visually, that organisation is immediately obvious. I was very surprised by the statements made both by the Environment Minister and by the APA president, who has worked at the agency for decades,” she added.
According to the FPCP president, the greatest surprise lay in the language used, particularly references to “abusive behaviour by concessionaires” and questions surrounding the legality of the signs marking parasol areas.
“I was surprised because I expected there to be some prior agreement and coordination between the authorities, the Ministry of the Environment, the Portuguese Environment Agency and the National Maritime Authority, before publicly claiming that concessionaires are behaving abusively,” she said.
Ms Vilafanha also expressed astonishment that the signs used to organise beach areas, including those designating parasol zones, were now being questioned, noting that they are “approved by the National Maritime Authority and sold by retailers authorised by the Institute for Lifesaving”.
According to her, concessionaires have “always been required” to display such signs and are not responsible for designing or producing them themselves.
“The directives come from the National Maritime Authority,” she said.
“How can we have official beach management signs indicating parasol areas if this was supposedly illegal all along?” she asked, adding that she assumes “the National Maritime Authority learned at the same time as concessionaires that, apparently, these signs are illegal”.
“That is why this situation is so surprising, because the Portuguese Federation of Beach Concessionaires was not contacted by either the Ministry of the Environment or the Portuguese Environment Agency, and I presume the Maritime Authority was not either,” she stressed.
Ms Vilafanha also explained that concessionaires organise their “operational areas”, which are “decided and defined by local councils together with harbour authorities, or vice versa”.
“There are regulations in place. None of this is done arbitrarily, and certainly not at the whim of concessionaires. There is a regulatory framework,” she insisted.
“For decades we have been required to carry these signs back and forth, place them on the beach and divide the different zones, and now, suddenly, the Federation learns through media reports that concessionaires have supposedly been acting abusively,” she lamented.
She added that several concessionaires had already contacted the federation, with many expressing feelings of “confusion” and “disorientation” over media reports published without any prior communication from the authorities.
According to Mr Pimenta Machado, the APA is expected to publish an official clarification before the start of the bathing season on 1st June, with the aim of ensuring a uniform interpretation of the rules among municipalities, concessionaires, and the National Maritime Authority.
Source: LUSA
