“The Government misinterpreted, probably, because it did not resolve this situation. Now it comes with an addendum, a correction”, the association's president, Paulo Moz Barbosa, told Lusa.

Thinking that there is a distinction between campervans and the generality of citizens, the leader recalled that he had already explained in the Assembly of the Republic, with the Portuguese Federation of Autocaravanism, that the Government's actions “have no logic”.

“If it is forbidden to park on the access roads, if it is forbidden to park in the parks themselves, how does a camper and his family go to the beach? It's forbidden”, pointed out the representative.

The executive, he added, is passing responsibilities by announcing that, from now on, it is the owners of the car parks that will determine whether the motorhomes can park during the day between 7am and 9pm next to the beaches.

“It will be the owners of the parks themselves who say: you can come or you cannot come. That is, the Government throws the parking responsibilities to an entity, which ends up overlapping what citizenship is”, he observed.

Assuming caution for not yet knowing the decree-law, the official defended that the motorhomes should park according to the arrival time and not according to specific places.

“It also says that it is the owners - private or municipal - who say how many motorhomes can fit in a given space. We don't see that there is any reason to limit the number. There is discrimination here. We even think it is unconstitutional, because we are treating the motorhome citizen as being a citizen different from others,” he said.

On 3 August, the Autocaravanista Association of Portugal and the Portuguese Federation of Autocaravanismo will meet with the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rita Marques, to discuss the situation.

The Government determined on 30 July to maintain the ban on the permanence of motorhomes in the parks and parking areas to access the beaches, but defined the possibility of these vehicles remaining in "specifically designated places" between 7am and 9pm.

The decision, released in a communiqué from the Council of Ministers after the executive's meeting, is contained in a decree-law that alters the exceptional and temporary measures related to the covid-19 pandemic.

“It maintains the ban on the permanence of motorhomes or similar in the parks and parking areas, but it emphasises that there is the possibility of remaining in the places specifically designated for these vehicles by the management entities of the parks and parking areas, between 7am and 9pm, and in compliance with all applicable provisions”, can be read in the note.

Although the statement does not indicate that the measure refers to access to beaches, a government source confirmed to Lusa that it is these areas that are involved in the diploma.

Last week, the Government had clarified that motorhomes were prohibited from parking in parks and parking areas to access the beaches.

In a reply sent to Lusa, a source from the State Secretariat for Tourism then referred that, taking into account the exceptional measures of access, occupation and use of beaches in the 2020 bathing season, the Government “understood that it was appropriate, necessary and proportional to interdict the 'permanence of motorhomes or similar in parks and parking areas'”.