Cacela Velha beach – also known as Praia da Fábrica – has been featured on a list of the “15 best beaches in the world” published online by the Spanish edition of Condé Nast Traveler magazine.
Travel writer Sara Morillo describes the beach as “the metaphor of my happiness”, which she has been visiting every summer since 2006.
“It is where I have found what I can call as ‘my beach’,” Morrilo writes.
The writer praises the small village for boasting “fantastic sunsets”, and for offering visitors a chance to board a small ship and explore a nearby desert island with “white sand and endless shores”.
Eating fresh shellfish caught in the Ria Formosa estuary is another experience to be found here, Morillo adds.
Other beaches on the Condé Nast list include Riviera Maya (Mexico), Capri (Italy), Pelican Point (Bahamas) and Easter Island (Chile).
The magazine’s praise is being celebrated by Vila Real de Santo António council, which says the beach, that was recently awarded a Quercus ‘gold’ flag for the quality of its water, was also considered one of the ‘top 10 European beaches by foot’ by British newspaper The Guardian in 2009.
