In August 2009 a section of cliff collapsed killing five people at Maria Luísa beach in Albufeira despite signs warning of the risk of rock falls.
Early this Thursday morning a massive section of cliff above the same beach sheared off and crashed into the sand but luckily this time there was nobody underneath.
The cliffs above Maria Luísa beach now "show no signs of imminent collapse," according to the regional director of the Environment Agency.
"A technical assessment was made and no imminent risk of collapse was detected, although there is always the danger of a natural collapse of the cliffs," said Sebastião Teixeira, regional director of the Agency, alluding to the imperfect science of cliff inspection.
According to Teixeira, after an assessment was carried out with Albufeira council engineers and the Maritime Authority, the cliff top area was sealed off as a precaution "to prevent people approaching the cliff edge” and new signage has been set up to warn of the danger of further collapse.
According to Teixeira, the section of cliff gave way in the early hours of Thursday, "it was large, equivalent to about 1,000 tons of debris that fell onto the sand." The debris covered an area of 1.3 times the height of the cliff.
Teixeira added that the assessment made before the summer season obviously did not detect any signs of an impending rock fall or collapse and he attributed the collapse to "natural erosion," just months after the last inspection.
"It was not the rain, neither the sea, nor was there any significant earthquake activity," he said.
In August 2009, the collapse of the cliff at the same beach killed five people in the most serious accident ever recorded at one the Algarve's beaches.
Every year Albufeira council promotes environmental education for beach users warning of the danger of cliffs collapsing and rock falls.
The Portuguese Environment Agency has spent millions this year on making the Algarve’s beaches ‘safe.’
The partial destruction and uglification of Dona Ana beach in Lagos used 'safety' as the excuse to build a dam and dredge the immediate marine area to extend the beach area without consultation with expert organisations.
It now is clear that even this beach is not truly safe, nor are any of the Algarve's beaches with cliffs above as the inspection process seems to be little more than a 'best guess.'
This latest Albufeira cliff collapse fall shows the unpredictability of the Algarve’s cliffs whether safety assessments and remedial safety work has been carried out or not.
The millions authorised by the Minister for the Environment to make beaches safe for tourists may have beetter been spent on providing signage, shade for all and temporary barriers at the cliff base.
