The Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards (FEPONS) today called for reinforced safety for bathers during the Easter holidays, considered the most critical period for drownings on beaches still without lifeguard supervision.
“We are now entering a two-week period that is the most critical for drowning in Portugal, with unmanned beaches, many people on holiday and good weather,” said FEPONS president Alexandre Tadeia, urging “the utmost caution.”
The federation’s data, relating to previous years, lead to classifying this phase of the year as “terrible” when it comes to drownings, with Alexandre Tadeia warning that “everyone must take the utmost care, not approach the water,” because “the aquatic conditions are not conducive to leisure.”
According to the president of FEPONS, “in previous years these two weeks [the Easter period] have been well above the average for drownings,” since the average number of drowning deaths is “4.96 per fortnight” and in “previous years [in the Easter fortnight] the values have been double and, in some years, up to four times higher.”
As an example, he added: “in 2024, during this period, we had 20 drownings in Portugal.”
These numbers lead the federation to reaffirm the need to extend lifeguard surveillance on beaches year-round, in light of the climate that favours beachgoing outside the bathing season.
“That year-round surveillance would, effectively, save lives,” he said, advocating the implementation of a system similar to that of other countries where there exists “a group of lifeguards throughout the year to monitor the beaches.”
In areas of Portugal where beaches are watched all year round, “such as Nazaré, there have been no further deaths outside the bathing season,” he recalled, stressing the “evidence that these systems do work even with these sea conditions.”
According to the 2024 National Drowning Report, from the FEPONS Drowning Observatory, 2024 registered 121 drownings on continental Portugal, a reduction of 21.9% compared to 2023, when 155 deaths were recorded.
In 2024, the locations with the highest number of incidents were the sea (41.3%), followed by rivers (31.4%) and wells (9.9%).
According to FEPONS, most deaths occurred in locations without lifeguard surveillance and the highest number of drownings occurred in April, with 21.5%.
In 2025, up to the end of May, 49 people drowned, the third highest figure since 2017, according to the report’s data.
