Beach-goers be warned – placing your sun shade in front of beach umbrellas for rent could have serious consequences.
The warning came from a spokesperson for the national maritime authority (AMN) Nuno Leitão earlier this week.
“It doesn’t make sense for beach goers to be allowed to put up their sun shades in areas where concessionaires rent out sun beds and umbrellas,” he said, adding that “it is up to the maritime police to make sure that these beach areas are being used correctly”.
Although Leitão confirmed that beach goers are allowed to lie down on their towels in front of these areas, there will be “no tolerance” for ‘freeloaders’. If anyone dares take advantage of the shade of concessionaires’ umbrellas, they will face a fine as well, he stressed.
So far, however, it seems beach goers have been well-behaved. No umbrella-related fines have been recorded this summer and ‘reprimands’ seem to be working a treat.
