Purposes of the Candidacy 

Albufeirais an eminently touristic municipality, recognised for the quality and beauty of its beaches and for its particularly mild climate, which invites pleasant walks on foot, by jeep or by bicycle through the barrocal countryside or along the stunning cliffs that stretch for 30 kilometres of coastline. It offers opportunities for hiking and off-road activities, motor sports, birdwatching, golf, and exceptional conditions for hosting international teams' pre-season training camps, as well as major sporting events throughout the year.

The Municipality invests strongly in Sport, covering all age groups and physical conditions of the population. It provides good sports infrastructures and qualified know-how, regularly supports local sports clubs and associations through sports development programme contracts and logistical collaboration, and counts on athletes who have stood out nationally and internationally in various disciplines, supported by a long-standing sporting tradition.

Currently, there are 3,220 athletes, of whom 2,241 are federated, across 28 sporting disciplines. There are 51 clubs and associations in the field of sport and 27 sports facilities, including stadiums, sports halls, outdoor sports parks, athletics tracks and a municipal swimming pool, distributed throughout the municipality.

We regularly support 11 athletes with international records and organise, either independently or in partnership, several sports events of national and international relevance.

At the same time, we promote school sports programmes, initiatives aimed at the senior population, and activities for people and athletes with different levels of disability, always from an educational, social and inclusive perspective.

We therefore bring together all the conditions to view Sport as a strategic area of intervention, and we intend to continue growing and developing in a consistent manner, with the aim of leaving a lasting mark for future generations of Albufeira residents and for society as a whole.

Albufeira is the European City of Sport in 2026, but we want sports activity to remain part of the Municipality's strategic commitment in the coming years, with a focus on improving quality of life.

We aim to democratise sport in our municipality so that we can increasingly approach European participation ratios. It should be noted that, according to the National Sports Development Plan, 73% of the Portuguese population does not practise physical activity, compared to 45% of the European population.

In Albufeira, alongside the number of federated and non-federated athletes registered with local clubs and associations, there are around 11,000 informal sports practitioners. Approximately 8,000 residents use municipal and private gyms, as well as those belonging to clubs and associations. As for the senior population, there are around 1,000 participants, divided between the programmes Senior em Movimento, Diabetes em Movimento, the activities of the Associação Albufeira no Coração and the Clube Avô.