어부의 길 구간 - Luz » Salema

In the vegetation on the cliffs, a careful eye discovers orchids and wild lilies, dwarf palms and many aromatic plants, such as thyme, mastic or rosemary. At Boca do Rio, the trail crosses a permanent watercourse, the result of the confluence of several streams. To the north of that point lies the Paul da Lontreira, well worth exploring before continuing. It is a wetland of more than 100 hectares, dominated by reeds and bulrushes.

On the banks of the watercourses the tamarisk predominates and in the damp floodplains, where rice fields once existed, pastures and rush beds now occur. The otter is the emblematic species of the marsh, but it is nocturnal, so it will not easily be spotted. In the birdlife, the highlights are the species water rail, common coot, moorhen, little egret, purple heron, grey heron, Cetti’s warbler, reed warbler, zitting cisticola and the black-faced tit (a rare species observable only in winter).

At the western end of Praia da Boca do Rio, the remains of a Roman villa are currently clearly visible, including fish-salting workshops, a bathhouse, a residential area and a domestic services area. Rooms lined with mosaic and walls with painted stucco were found, indicating the prosperity of this ancient settlement.

Less than 2km from Boca do Rio, on the seabed, are the remains of the L’Océan, a ship around 60 metres long that carried 80 cannons and 800 crew. It was the flagship of a French fleet of 14 ships. During the Seven Years’ War it was sunk by the powerful English navy in the “Battle of Lagos”, in August 1759.

In the 17th century, repeated attacks by pirates and privateers on the fishing stations led the then Governor and Captain-General of the Algarve, D. Luís de Sousa, to order the construction of a fort to defend the coast, east of Boca do Rio beach. Pirates operated outside the law, attacking even the ships of their own country. Privateers, by contrast, were granted the right by a state to seize ships and plunder the settlements of enemy states. Both reached their peak in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Almádena fort survived the 1755 earthquake, but succumbed to abandonment when maritime privateering ceased to threaten this coast. The last known uses took place during the civil war (1832-1834) and in the 19th century for surveillance of smuggling along the coast.