The intervention, provided for in the Vilamoura-Vila Real de Santo António Coastal Zone Management Plan, represents a total investment of €14.9 million and “will be completed before the next bathing season,” the Ministry of Environment and Energy said in a statement.

The artificial beach nourishment project involves placing 1.4 million cubic metres of sediment along 6.7 kilometres of coastline between the beaches of Quarteira and Garrão, in the municipality of Loulé, in the district of Faro, ensuring the protection of the coastline.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, the work aims to “mitigate the erosion of the cliffs and will also allow the stability of the entire section and ensure the absence of negative effects on the barrier island system of the Ria Formosa, the sotamar [direction in which the sea current flows]”.

“At the end of the work, the emerged part of the beach is expected to be widened by an average of 37.5 metres,” the note reads.

According to the Minister for the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, quoted in the document, “this is one of many interventions already underway on the Algarve coast, such as Praia do Vau in Portimão, the renaturalisation of the Ancão Peninsula, the artificial nourishment of Fuzeta beach and Ilha da Armona, and the work, already under study, to restructure the Quarteira jetties”.

“These are fundamental works for the country, aimed at ensuring the safety of the population and the protection of the coastline,” concludes the Minister for the Environment.

In order to carry out the Quarteira/Garrão project, it was necessary to prepare and approve an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and issue the respective Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The international public tender was launched on 3 September 2025, with Dravosa S.A. winning the contract.

The signing of the contract between the Government and the company is scheduled for Friday, 10 January, in Loulé.