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Maritime Police travels along Northern beaches to call on people to go home


The Maritime Police are traveling to several beaches in the North, banned this Friday, to inform and raise awareness of the need to stay at home, despite the good weather, the Douro captain told Lusa this Friday.

“The Captaincy made an announcement to note the ban on the practice of sports and leisure activities on the beaches of Espinho, Gaia, Porto and Matosinhos and, now, it is giving this notice to people, alerting them to the need to comply with the recommendations of the health authorities “, underlined Cruz Martins.

The beaches of Espinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos and Porto, as well as the river along the Douro River, are, since this Friday, closed to the practice of any sport or leisure activity.

For this reason, the maritime police are now taking note of this ban on people, alerting them to the need to avoid crowds.

The commander recalled that the main objective of this ban is related to the “need to contain the new coronavirus”, remembering that despite the good weather, people cannot and should not come to the beaches.

In this first phase, the Maritime Police is in a kind of “clarification session”, but then, if people do not comply, and are negligent, they may incur a infraction for infringement of the edict of the Captaincy of the Ports of Douro and Leixões, whose fines they can go from 400 euros to 2500, he said.

As for the walkways, Cruz Martins said that people will be able to continue walking them, because it is not expected that there will be crowds there, but it is always advisable to stay at home.

The Municipality of Matosinhos also stated, in a statement, that all beaches in the municipality are prohibited from bathing, as well as all water sports until March 31.

The municipality says that it has decided to communicate this measure to the Administration of the Ports of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo, as well as to the Portuguese Environment Agency, Maritime Police and Municipal Police.

“This measure will be reassessed before the end of the defined period”, that is, before March 31, refers the note sent to the Lusa agency by the local authority in Matosinhense.

On Thursday, the Municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia had already announced an equal measure on the beaches of the municipality.

In a statement, the Câmara de Gaia, stated that it determined “the ban on river and sea beaches”, a decision that was communicated to the respective entities, namely Maritime Police and Municipal Police.

This Friday, the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards (FEPONS) advised against going to the beaches to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus and a greater risk of drowning.

A source from the FEPONS board indicated to the Lusa agency that, at the moment, there is an increased concern regarding drowning on the beaches and recommends that people do not approach the water, especially because “the waves and currents are strong”.

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