In a statement sent to The Portugal News the association says that “despite opposition and widespread protests from various sectors of society, the destructive work on Dona Ana beach is about to be completed.”


Founded in Loulé in 1988, Almargem is a non-profit association which aims to protect the Algarve’s environmental and cultural heritage.


One of the association’s main bugbears regarding the Dona Ana project is the dredging and dumping of “several tons of sand that is much poorer in quality than what existed before, and which smothered the underwater world and maritime landscape of this sublime stretch of the Costa de Oiro.”


It also complains of a 50-metre-long dike that has been built between the beach’s northern cliff-face and the Leixão dos Artilheiros jetty.


“In Association Almargem’s opinion it is a serious and premeditated environmental crime that cannot go unpunished”, the group added.


Almargem said it will be sending a complaint to the European Commission against the Portuguese State as well as lodging a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor against the Ministry for the Environment, Land Planning and Energy.


It argues that at the crux of the matter are “clear violations of principles and rules contained in Portuguese and EU legislation.”


The association lists the main violations as being of Decree-Law no. 151-B/2013, which states “work on Dona Ana Beach should have been subject to a mandatory environmental impact assessment”, and the fact that “although Dona Ana Beach is not covered by any statute of Special protection, it is integrated in the IBA PT047 - Ponta da Piedade.”


IBA’s, or Important Bird Areas, Almargem explains, are a protection programme for birds, coordinated worldwide by Bird Life International, and regarded as pre-candidates for areas classified as SPAs ( Special protection Zones), under the Birds Directive.


“The work on the Dona Ana beach therefore violates the Principle of Prevention, enshrined in the Constitution of Portugal, as it radically altered an area that would in future integrate an area of protection and conservation of nature.


In this context, the association elaborated, it intends to draw up a proposal for Ponta da Piedade to be classified as a protected area, which it will submit to the Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF) “to prevent measures similar to those of Dona Ana beach and prevent the progressing of private projects such as the Quinta da Ponta da Piedade, that recently decided to close off an 8.5 hectare coastal area that neighbours with Dona Ana beach, and put it up for sale.”


Rounding off its statement Association Almargem said it “deeply regrets” that at the start of the bathing season, the European Blue Flag Association and environment protection association Quercus “have not accepted the request to withdraw the Blue Flag and Gold Quality awards from Dona Ana Beach, which will thus forever be stained and associated with a crime that destroyed one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.”