THREE Dutch tourists had to be rescued from the sea on Thursday, October 25, at the Ponta Ruiva beach, between Sagres village and the Sagres Fortress.
The location is very popular among the surfing community, although it is not supervised by life guards, and it is very near the Tonel beach, where three English and one German tourists died only four days earlier while trying to save their three children from strong tides, as reported by The Resident last week (October 26).
The latest incident was reported on October 25 by a surf teacher to a Portuguese daily newspaper, who said the strong currents were dragging out the group when local surfers saved them.
According to Luís Sousa, the swimmers, two girls aged 16 and 18, and a boy of 15, were already several metres away from the beach and were trying to swim against the current to return when family and friends started screaming for help.
The incident was not reported to authorities. Local Bombeiros, the Vila do Bispo health centre and the Lagos maritime police confirmed to The Resident that no incident was reported to their patrols related to the Ponta Ruiva beach or any tourists in danger of drowning.
The Ponta Ruiva has no concession facility and is not mentioned on the list of secured beaches released by the maritime authorities for the Algarve.
Tonel beach, where other tourists weren’t so lucky, has a small concession bar and, contrary to what was reported by The Resident on its previous edition, has, in fact, a mandatory sign with basic bilingual information to swimmers.
If you would like to know where and when the beaches are guarded, please visit: http://www.marinha.pt/Marinha/PT/Extra/ISN/praias_vigiadas/Listagem+de+Praias+Vigiadas/praias_algarve.htm. Be aware this information is available only in Portuguese.
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