More PSP officers will be patrolling the Algarve region from 20 June onwards, law enforcement authorities revealed this week.
Like last year, this year a boost in manpower of 24 officers is on the cards for the Algarve, who will be placed in Portimão and Lagos and focus on nightspots.
Faro district PSP Commander Ricardo Van Zeller Matos said “it is a substantial reinforcement in terms of muscle-power and visibility, which will allow us to cover nightspots every night during the whole of summer.”
However, this year the extra ‘muscle’ was brought in earlier than last year and will be reinforcing the Algarve’s PSP force from 20 June, whereas last year the teams arrived on 17 July.
They will stay in the region until 15 September.
Home Affairs Minister Constança Urbano de Sousa officially announced the reinforcement on Friday this week.
Commandant Matos added: “We are expecting a summer with an extraordinary turnout, in terms of tourism, and I believe that the Police Department and the Minister are both sensitive to this situation.”
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Sulinformação, Commandant Matos said the PSP is on the “alert” for possible terrorist threats in the Algarve.
In the interview the head of the southern branch of the PSP added that “any indication [of a threat] is taken seriously from the outset until a more careful analysis allows us to rest.”
He explained the Algarve is “no different to the rest of the world and some measures are being put in place”, namely at Faro airport, with a view to preventing possible threats.
“This year, with an expected seven million passengers [arriving at Faro] training has been given not only to police officers at the airport but also to other employees, such as security companies, transport, and car rentals. We staged awareness-raising campaigns with these companies regarding the issue of terrorism.”
A statement from the PSP elaborated “the main ideologies associated with terrorism and terrorist attacks were addressed, as well as emphasising the importance of communication and information-sharing between the various partners of the airport community”.
This comes after the Portuguese government unveiled a project back in April to make the Algarve “Europe’s safest tourist destination.”
At the time, Home Affairs Secretary Jorge Gomes said the project, known as ‘Algarve – A Safe Destination’, was based on implementing measures such as the creation of “efficient coordination and fiscalisation instruments”, especially in terms of border control, which has become increasingly topical in the European context of fighting the growing terror threat.