Newspaper Público reports the Tivoli Marina Hotel is one complainant, as is the former Dean of the Algarve University and head of the local Municipal Assembly, Adriano Pimpão.
According to Público, music from the summer hot spots can be heard from kilometres away, sometimes until six in the morning. Residents claim they cannot sleep because of the noise from the parties which go on until dawn, at a time of year when the local average occupation rate triples.
Mr. Pimpão told the newspaper he has spent in the region of ten thousand euros on triple glazing in his home to keep the noise out, but is “upset at the lack of responses that the various powers-that-be have in order to intervene in this matter.”
The GNR said authorities do not have the legal means to enforce the music being turned down, but they have reinforced the number of officers patrolling the area to clamp down on unruly revellers and drink-drivers.
The force said an average of six drivers are detained every night in Vilamoura for driving while under the influence of alcohol.
For the past two years the Loulé Municipal Assembly has endeavoured to bring the matter of what it terms “noise pollution and sustainable tourism” to the heart of local political matters.
Loulé councillor Ana Machado told Público, all establishments are equipped with “sound limiting devices, and sound levels are registered by online municipal services.”
She added that when music exceeds pre-programmed levels a warning is automatically issued.
At the end of last week, Público reports, the GNR submitted a report to Loulé Municipal Assembly on the noise in Vilamoura.
Among the suggestions the GNR made to avoid future complaints is to reduce the maximum number of decibels permitted in sound equipment installed in open-air spaces. As noise can be carried considerable distances on the wind.Meanwhile, Left Bloc MPs João Vasconcelos and Jorge Costa have sent a set of queries to Environment Minister João Pedro Fernandes regarding similar issues in Praia da Rocha (Portimão). The MPs question whether the Ministry will intervene “to ensure normality” in compliance with noise laws, and “what measures the government intends to adopt to ensure the tranquillity of residents and holidaymakers” in the area surrounding the rock beach of the fortress, following a number of complaints from the area.