The storms mainly caused instability in cliffs and sand retreat, according to a report by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).

"In the intervention area of ​​the ARH [Hydrographic Region Administration] Algarve, the main occurrences resulted in the punctual occurrence of damage to the walkways accessing the beach and to beach supports, and retreat of the coastline," summarises the APA in the section dedicated to the southern region of mainland Portugal in a technical report presented on Wednesday.

The text with the "summary of occurrences on the coastal strip of mainland Portugal" indicates that the estimated losses on the country's coastline, in terms of damage, amount to approximately 27 million euros, for which intervention is planned "immediately," in addition to other interventions of a "more structural nature in the short and medium term."

According to a survey conducted by the APA, 35 beaches in the Algarve were most affected by successive storms, with the municipalities of Albufeira (nine beaches) and Lagoa (eight beaches) being the most affected.

The report also presents data from the Cosmos program's monitoring, which includes a series of "extraordinary" surveys of sand retreat on beaches from mid-May to June 2025, through February of this year.

These measurements were carried out in areas considered critical "due to their medium- to long-term erosive trend and the associated potential risk."

Most worrying case

The most worrying case in the south of the country was observed on Peneco beach (Albufeira) with a maximum retreat of 24 meters from the shoreline.

Other cases noted include a maximum local retreat of 15 metres detected on Loulé Velho–Trafal beach, 14 metres on Quarteira-Garrão beach (Loulé), and six metres on Forte Novo beach (Loulé).

Reprogramming investments

In early March, during a visit to the Algarve, the Minister of the Environment said that it would be necessary to reschedule the investments planned for the coast due to the storms, but assured that the most urgent interventions would be carried out before the summer.

Planned works

According to Maria da Graça Carvalho, only urgent works that are "essential for the summer" are planned for this summer season, especially the replacement of walkways and structures that were knocked down - for which the government will resort to the Environmental Fund - with the remaining works being the subject of a more detailed application to the Sustainable Program 2030 and, therefore, will only proceed next year.

According to the Minister, the goal is to resolve the most urgent situations on beaches affected by the bad weather in May, so people can start enjoying them before the start of the summer season.

Cliff stabilization

During the same visit, the head of government stated that stabilising the cliffs was a "super urgent" priority to ensure coastal safety, following worsening erosion caused by recent storms.

The government official said at the time that the Algarve is the region where "there are the most problems with the cliffs and the most complicated cases," resulting from the sea storms, rain, and strong winds that have plagued the country in recent weeks.