The Surf
The Air Temperature in Portugal ranges from 10ºC in the winter months to the high 30ºC in the summer.
The Algarve encompassing the extreme south western tip of the European continent boast 100 miles of coastline with some of the most dramatic surf beaches to be found in Europe. It's permeated with memories of the long-ago Moorish occupation and is regarded as the garden of Portugal with beautiful flowers and in many ways resembles the coastline of Morocco just found across the Gibraltar strait.
Portugal has been attracting surfers to its shores for decades, it offers quality surf year long with excellent sandy beach and point breaks. Portugal has been likened to that of Southern California many times and it does not disappoint as it delivers a decent sized surf peak and with water temperatures never dropping too low offers a great all year round destination.
In 1976 Surfer Magazine published a news article that made Portugal well-known all over the surfing world, showing its true potencial.
During the sixties, there was already a handful of Portuguese surfers that managed to catch waves in a country where there were no surf shops or surfboard shapers at all.
The first surf competition in Portugal took place in Ericeira, in 1977 and the second competition in Peniche. Step by step EPSA (European Professional Kitesurfing Association), WQS (World Qualify Series), and even some years later WCT (World Championship Tour) competitions began to put Portugal in their maps.
However nowadays there is a great amount of shapers, wetsuit factories, web sites and specialized kitesurfing magazines, in Portugal. Surfers, such as Tiago Pires, has raised the competitive level in Portugal to the highest level, making a lot of new followers. The first surfboards made in Portugal came out to the market in the late 70ies and early 80ies. Now they are top quality surfboards often used by professional competitors in the most challenging waves.
There are more than 60 thousand registered surfers in a country of 10 million people. That makes Portugal one of the biggest surfing nations in Europe.
History
There were Phoenician trading ports in the Algarve three thousand years ago, and the Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis, modern Portimão, in the sixth century BC.
The Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula in the second century BC took in the Algarve, and there are important Roman remains in Lagos.
The Visigoths took the area in the fifth century, being expelled by the Moors in 716. In the mid-12th century, the Moorish occupation ended: the "Al-Gharb" has been since then the kingdom of Algarve. It was not until the 13th century that the Portuguese finally secured the region against subsequent Moorish attempts to recapture the area.
Alfonso III finally took the Algarve from the Moors in 1250 (so completing the reconquest of Portugal).
In the 15th century, Henry the Navigator based himself in Sagres and conducted various maritime expeditions which established Portugal as a colonial power.
The Algarve was a semi-autonomous area of Portugal with a governor from 1595 to 1808, as well as a separate taxation system until the end of the 18th century[verification needed]. During this time, to reflect the Algarve's unique status, Portuguese monarchs were known as "King of Portugal and The Algarves."
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake damaged several areas in the Algarve, where a tsunami dismantled some coastal fortresses and, in the lower levels, razed houses. Almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa lagoon. In Lagos, the waves reached the top of the city walls. The town of Vila Real de Santo António was destroyed by a wave from the earthquake, and rebuilt many years later in 1774. For many Portuguese coastal regions, including the Algarve, the destructive effects of the tsunami were more disastrous than those of the earthquake proper.
The Algarve became the first part of Portugal to liberate itself from Spanish occupation, in the rebellion of Olhão in 1808.
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