The organisers of the ‘7 Wonders of Portugal’, which this year has the central theme ‘Villages’, said they have received 446 applications from 332 villages dotted across the country.
The competition is divided into seven categories: rural villages, monument villages, sea villages, riverside villages, remote villages, authentic villages and villages in protected areas. These are further divided into seven regions – Azores, Madeira, North, Centre, Lisbon, Alentejo and the Algarve – with the majority of applications being sent in from central
Portugal.
Voting starts this week and finishes at the end of March, but only on 7 April will the 49 semi-finalists be revealed.
The seven final winning villages – one from each category – will be chosen by public vote and announced on 3 September.