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Portugal is one of the European countries, which the sun blessed. Nevertheless, if we add, to its climate, a 800kms of sea coast, bringing out the difference between mountains and valleys, with magnificent landscapes full of rivers, we easily discover that this is a gift of nature, which we should know how to explore, to take care and to make it accessible to every citizen.
Making these places accessible to all is a right by law in order to enable all kind of human mobility. (Meaning mobility for tall people, small people, fat people, mothers with proms, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with all types of handicaps…). This right is written in ‘decreto –lei 123/97’ of 22 nd of May, which has been revoked, but it was replaced by ‘decreto-lei number 163/06 of the 8 th of August.
So, we can state that so much has been done, mainly by CNCAEPD (National Coordination Committee for the European Year of Handicap People) that had the initiative for the Project ‘ Accessible Beach, Beach for all’ with the support of Portugal Vodafone Foundation. The truth is that we still have a long way to go in order to promote an easy mobility in Portuguese beaches.
Let us analyse some of the crucial points…
Parking lots continue to be scanty;
Tthere are few road ramps for sidewalks and generally, they are bent;
Not all the sidewalks have an entrance for a beach ramp, beach ways are thin and most of the times (with great difficulty) we cannot get through in a wheel chair or even to cross another bather path;
Sand ways always ends up too far from the sea;
Not all bathrooms are adapted;
In addition, aid station access is disputable.
To make things worse, in Portuguese beaches, it is extremely difficult to find available amphibious wheel chairs, amphibious crutches and other auxiliary instruments so that a handicapped can go into the sea. In the end, we continue to question ourselves if there exists any of these materials in our beaches.
Portugal Vodafone Foundation forces us to question the meaning of its project ‘ Accessible Beach, Beach for all’. Although made with good intentions, the only result and the most seen is only a prop with a board in acrylic, in the beaches entrance, which contains information, in normal writing and in Braille, such as these:
‘This beach was awarded as an accessible and for that it is enabled:
- pedestrian access;
- ordered parking;
- access to the baths zone;
- pedestrian crossings in the sand;
- adapted washing rooms;
- aid station access.
In some of theses beaches, you could find amphibious wheel chairs and/or amphibious crutches, or other equipment that allow you the access into the sea.
Please contact the lifeguard to check if any of these tools are available and how can you use them.
Now I ask…
How do I get close to the lifeguard?
Is it possible that, the lifeguard could abandon his standpoint only to tell to a person, with special needs, if the beach is equipped with those amphibious tools?
If a person in a wheelchair was not able to get next to the lifeguard, because it is impossible for a wheel chair to slide through the sand. Then, how could a blind person do it? Could he be running along the beach trying to find the lifeguard?
This board suggests something like this: you should be angry with those who do not respect this place created for all.
I ask again…. Should I be shouting or being more aggressive with the pedestrians just because I cannot go to the beach?
Why did they keep promising things that they cannot fully accomplish?
Is the law in a water-bath?
Where is the Portuguese Government? On Vacation….?
Well, these initiatives are nothing but show-off. Having total accessibility on these places is a dream fulfilled neither by our government nor by the Atlantic Ocean.
As far as fluvial beaches are concerned, it is only fair to say that apart from the laws referred above, we should thank to our local governments. Generally, these beaches protected from mass tourism are located in mountain corners and therefore are associated to rural tourism.
As fluvial beaches have, less public, less accessibility, greater is the advantage for the transgressor. However, in some cases we should also assume that building accessibility could be hard and difficult still it is possible to do.
The creation of elaborated accessibilities in fluvial beaches, in the surrounding areas, is important because it could bring richness to the country and, at the same time, help people with special needs. Some of those tools could be: pedestrian courses along the rivers, mountains and valleys of Portugal; adapted bicycle or boat sports; target firing, etc;
Nonetheless, there is also a world to discover and explore, near fluvial beaches, in order to make them accessible.
In conclusion, we could say that in both beach spaces there is a serious lack of accessibility. In such cases, it is fit to say that ‘the law is blind’ and ‘hell is full of good intentions’.
Note: As we can see a person with special needs always stays far from the sea.
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