Its better not to host the tournament than have the beach left like this….
The most important thing was not who won, but who left the beach ruined with trash.
An international competition brought together 32 teams – 16 women’s and 16 men’s – to compete for the European beach handball club title, and ended in a scene that outraged residents and visitors of Porto Santo, Jornal Madeira has learned.
After the dismantling of the facilities that hosted the European Beach Handball Champions Cup matches—which featured 32 men’s and women’s teams—the beautiful and stunning Porto Santo beach resembled a dump. The sand became a veritable waste dump, a wasteland with paper, cans, plastic bottles, and other debris scattered across several meters.
Images and videos sent to JM by readers show the state of Ilha Dourada beach, with its shiny sand covered in trash, a scene of neglect and lack of respect for the environment, in the areas where the venue for this European beach handball championship was set up.
When contacted by JM, several readers and residents expressed their outrage at the situation. “If they’re going to leave the beach like this, it’s better to do nothing, at least we still have a beautiful, stunning beach,” lamented one JM reader.
The incident raises environmental and public health concerns, tarnishing the image of an event that aimed to promote sport and sustainable tourism on one of the country’s most beautiful beaches.