Many local municipalities have opted to reduce the period allocated as the official bathing season, normally from the first day of June to the last day of September, when it is obligatory for beach concession holders to employ two lifeguards for every 100 metres of beach. This option, which has been signed off by the Environment Minister, Nunes Correia, has been adopted by a large number of municipalities and will leave 183 beaches without a lifeguard for the first fortnight in June and the last two weeks in September. These include Quebrada beach, where a four year old child disappeared in the sea a week ago last Sunday.

The reasoning behind the measure is said to relate to the difficulties in hiring lifeguards, as well as the costs, estimated by the Portuguese Concessionary Federation at around €2.000 per lifeguard per month. It appears also that concessionaries find lifeguards scarce on the ground, although, according to the Diário de Notícias, the Instituto de Socorro- a-Náufragos (institute for sea rescues – ISN) claims that there are more than 4.000 certified lifeguards nationwide and that the demands of the beaches amount to around 1.700.

After the two lives claimed by the sea last week (see get real March 17) the Portuguese Lifeguards’ Federation announced that it intended to propose that coastal vigilance is in force all year round, one of various measures which the Federation intends to propose to the government. The Federation would also like to see legislation which allows a reduction in the official bathing period changed to stipulate a minimum period, namely between June 1 and October 1, but allowing for an increase in this period. Acknowledging the burden of the costs, the Federation believes that this could be alleviated with the participation of the Ministries of Education and Environment.