DID YOU KNOW? · This hour's
Safety — Flags · lifeguards · 112
Advice from the National Maritime Authority: favour supervised beaches, respect the flags and the lifeguards' instructions, stay hydrated, avoid the sun from 11am to 4pm, keep away from unstable cliffs; in an emergency do not enter the water but alert the lifeguard or dial 112.
History of Porto Santo14
c. 1370 — Before the Portuguese — The island already appears on the Medici Atlas
The town hall notes that an Italian atlas of about 1370 mentions Porto Santo before the Portuguese navigators arrived.
1418 — Discovery — João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira
Sent to reconnoitre the Moroccan coast for Prince Henry, the two captains were blown off course by a storm and found shelter in a sheltered bay they named Porto Santo, the "holy harbour". Madeira was reached the following year, in 1419.
The rabbit legend — A pregnant doe that escaped at the first landing
An old tradition blames Perestrelo for the island's sparse vegetation: a doe that had littered during the crossing was released and its offspring overran Porto Santo within a few years. Encyclopaedias note that no contemporary source is cited for the story.
1478–1480 — Christopher Columbus — Marries Filipa Moniz, Perestrelo's daughter
A sugar trader, Columbus visited the archipelago from 1478 and married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo around 1479. The couple lived for a time on Porto Santo, where tradition places the birth of their son Diogo (c. 1479–1480) and the planning of the westward crossing. Columbus called at the island again in 1498, on his third voyage.
Casa Colombo — Two Gothic windows from the early 16th century
Oral tradition makes this house on Travessa da Sacristia the home of Columbus; the present ensemble dates from the 18th and 19th centuries. The museum opened in 1989 and was redesigned in 2004: Portuguese and Spanish expansion, the Dutch colonial empire, the treasure of the Slot ter Hooge.
1533 — Graça chapel — Founded in 1533, a refuge during raids
Standing alone on the slope of Pico do Castelo, destroyed in 1812 and rebuilt in the 20th century, it keeps a 16th-century Virgin from a Flemish workshop. Its feast on 15 August is one of the island's best attended.
1566 — French corsairs — The church is pillaged and almost destroyed
In the same year Funchal was sacked for fifteen days by the French under Peyrot de Monluc. On Pico do Castelo a 16th-century fortlet served as a refuge from these raids; on Pico do Facho, fires warned of approaching ships.
1713 — The island almost abandoned — The Crown keeps the inhabitants in place
Isolation, aridity and raids called human presence into question; the Crown refused, regarding Porto Santo as a strategic point for Portuguese sovereignty.
13 October 1770 — Vines on the sand — A royal charter of José I revives farming
Vine cuttings were distributed for the sandy land in the centre of the island, where the airport now stands; by 1779 Porto Santo wine and brandy were reaching Madeira, where the sugar-rich wine was used to sweeten the best Madeiras. The same charter required trees to be planted along field edges and in stream beds to hold back rainwater.
7 January 1893 — The Fontinha waters — Analysed in Paris, gold medal in Rio in 1918
The Paris School of Mines classed the Fontinha spring among the bicarbonate, sodium-sulphate waters; it won a medal at the Rio de Janeiro international mineral-water exhibition.
1920s — Reforestation — António Schiappa de Azevedo plants Pico do Castelo
Trees and materials were carried by hand up a bare peak; a further conifer campaign covered the slope in the 1950s. His bust stands near the summit.
1980 — Water from the sea — Europe's first desalination plant
When it opened, the reverse-osmosis plant at Vila Baleira was one of only five industrial units of its kind in the world and the first on European soil. Today all the island's drinking water comes from the sea, drawn through four galleries beneath the beach, then treated and mineralised (operator ARM).
A queen against luxury — Maria I imposes clothing made from island produce
Queen Maria I imposed, as an economy measure, clothing made from island produce, to fight the excessive luxury and the aristocratic pride the inhabitants took to boasting of — to the detriment, wrote Father Eduardo Pereira, of the life and the economy of Porto Santo.
1929 — Passengers stop being carried ashore — The 102-metre pier, begun on 19 March 1929
Work on the pier began on 19 March 1929 in the centre of town: 102 metres long by 4 wide, resting on sturdy pillars set at equal distances. From then on, passengers arriving at Porto Santo could embark and disembark under their own power, instead of being carried on the backs or in the arms of strong men, as had been done for centuries.
Nature and Geology11
A volcano under the sea — The island was born about 18 million years ago
Porto Santo first grew under water, then surfaced some 14 million years ago. The last eruptions are about 8 million years old: the island is older than Madeira.
Fonte da Areia — Fossil dunes 31,000 years old
These cliffs of hardened sand keep root casts, limestone crusts and snail shells: green landscapes of long ago, swept by the north wind. The spring, once held sacred, gave the purest water on the island; an 18th-century fountain still stands beside it.
The Ana Ferreira « Piano » — Stone columns like the keys of a piano
As it cooled inside the volcano's vent, the lava cracked into regular columns. The old quarry that uncovered them is now listed. One small snail lives nowhere else.
Zimbralinho and Morenos — Pillow lavas born under the sea
At Zimbralinho, the island's finest pillow lavas, frozen under water. At Morenos, lava dykes, 30,000-year-old fossil dunes with their root casts, and the shells of snails now extinct.
Salão, the green clay — A clay found nowhere else in Portugal, once used for roofs
At Serra de Dentro, green ravines: a clay born from the weathering of undersea volcanic rock. The old casas de salão roofed their houses with it.
Plants found nowhere else — About 536 species, 15 of them found only on Porto Santo
The dragon tree, the wild olive and the juniper of Pico Branco recall the original forest; the pines on the heights were planted from the 1950s. Pico Branco and Terra Chã shelter the island's best-preserved flora.
The dragon tree — The tree with « dragon's blood », under threat
Its red resin was used as a remedy. It grows slowly: 1.2 m in ten years. On Porto Santo it is one of the few survivors of the original vegetation.
Ilhéu de Cima — 32 ha · 111 m · lighthouse in service since May 1901
380 m off the coast, its lighthouse was the first seen by ships arriving from Europe. On its flanks, a giant pillow lava and balls of fossil calcareous algae, 14 to 15 million years old, that look like oranges.
Ilhéu de Ferro — 115 m · the "Furna que Berra"
A rocky triangle facing Ponta da Canavieira. At Ponta da Chaminé a cave sprays seawater in heavy swell; to the north the Furna que Berra « roars » under the waves. Two tarantulas and a snail live only on this islet.
Porto das Salemas — Turquoise natural pools at low tide
On the north coast, a hard-to-reach corner reveals turquoise natural pools at low tide, below cliffs streaked with lava dykes.
Palm trees in danger — The red palm weevil reached the island in October 2023
A beetle from Asia bores into the trunks and kills the palms from the inside. The town sets traps and fells the infested trees: do not move fronds or trunks.
Living culture of Porto Santo2
The Baile da Meia-Volta — A dance that defines Porto Santo
Collected along with the baile do ladrão and the baile sério by the Grupo de Folclore do Porto Santo, founded in 1963 by Father Martins Júnior and first performed on 1 November that year; some forty dancers aged 12 to 60 in late-19th-century costumes of linen, tow and wool.
Portela windmills — Three restored windmills, inaugurated on 14 October 2023
The island's first windmill is said to date from 1794. Long awaited, the three Portela windmills were returned to their original site; the folklore group sang at the opening.
Flavours of Porto Santo10
Porto Santo bolo do caco — Taller, bigger and without sweet potato
A round bread baked on the caco — a slab of clay, basalt or iron heated over embers — made from wheat flour, yeast, water and salt; on Madeira sweet potato is kneaded in, on Porto Santo it is not. Served warm with garlic butter and parsley. Wheat reached the archipelago in the second half of the 15th century.
Escarpiada — A thin cornmeal flatbread
Eaten all year with gaiado, grilled horse mackerel, a serralhas salad or raw limpets.
Gaiado seco — Salted, sun-dried skipjack
Much prized, grilled or pickled, or boiled with potatoes and raw or cooked onion.
Wild herbs — Ranchões, saramagos, perrexil, serralhas
A cuisine of scarcity, born of aridity and poor soils: Rapistrum, Sinapis and rock samphire boiled and seasoned, serralhas (Sonchus) in salads instead of lettuce.
Lapas — White and black limpets, grilled in garlic butter
Patella aspera and Patella candei. Regional rules: minimum size 40 mm, closed season from 1 December to 31 March, up to 3 kg a day per person without a licence. In the marine reserve, gathering by diving is banned; on the shingle it is allowed.
Fish of the day — "O peixe do dia"
The menu depends on the night's catch; always the best choice.
Porto Santo wine — Listrão and Caracol whites grown on calcareous sand
Vine-growing took off with the royal charter of 1770. Listrão is Palomino fino, "queen of the white grapes"; Caracol is very productive; moscatel completes the trio. The vines shelter behind dry-stone crochet walls; in 2025 almost 17 tonnes of grapes were delivered to the Justino's winery by the island's growers.
Island fruit — Melon, watermelon, figs and tabaibos
Typical seasonal produce; in summer, stalls in the Ribeiro Cochino car parks sell grapes, watermelon and figs alongside bolo do caco.
Milho frito — Golden fried polenta
A traditional side dish of the archipelago.
Polvo à lagareira — Octopus with olive oil and garlic
A speciality of Vila Alencastre.
The Atlantic Ocean7
Location — 33° N · 43 km north-east of Madeira
500 km from the African coast and 1,000 km from mainland Europe; geologists put the island some 700 km off north-west Africa.
Water temperature — 18 to 24 °C through the year
The regional tourist board's range; on the beaches, 24–25 °C in high summer. Low point in March, peak in September.
The corvette General Pereira d'Eça — Scuttled on 13 July 2016 in 29–30 m of water
A João Coutinho-class corvette built by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg (1970), 85 m long. It reached regional waters on 19 June 2016, was decontaminated, ballasted and sunk with explosives in Porto Santo bay, about two miles from the Madeirense. An artificial reef and "underwater museum" between 15 and 30 m; first monitoring survey from 31 October to 4 November 2016.
Seabirds — Four procellariiforms nest on the islets' IBA
Cory's shearwater, Bulwer's petrel, band-rumped storm petrel and Barolo shearwater ("pintainho") on the Cima, Cal and Ferro islets; common tern, yellow-legged gull and possibly roseate tern. Habitat of Community interest: sea cliffs with endemic Macaronesian flora.
Sport fishing — Blue marlin and bigeye tuna from June to September
Also albacore, bluefin tuna, hammerhead shark, barracuda, skipjack and swordfish; five minutes from the pier the sea is 1,000 m deep.
Water quality — Blue Flag 2026 on three beaches · Qualidade de Ouro
Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Cabeço da Ponta fly the Blue Flag; Fontinha since 1989. Six of the island's beaches received Quercus's "Qualidade de Ouro" in 2019. Nine bathing waters are designated in 2026.
Safety at sea — Supervised beaches · flags · 112
Bathing season from 1 May to 31 October; lifeguards guaranteed at Fontinha, Cabeço da Ponta and Ribeiro Salgado. In an emergency do not enter the water: alert the lifeguard or dial 112 (National Maritime Authority).
The Golden Beach7
Scientific recognition — Studied by the University of Aveiro
Biogenic carbonate sand described in geomedicine publications; groups of Norwegian patients have used the Geomedicine Centre of the Hotel Porto Santo since 1999.
Length — 9 km of fine sand · dune belt of about 7 km
From Penedo, by the harbour, to Calheta in the south-west. The wide bay combines beach and dune field over almost 7 km.
Water temperature — 24–25 °C in high summer · about 18 °C in March
Summer values from the regional tourist board. The low point of the year is March (average 17.8 °C) and the peak September (23.5 °C), according to satellite records of the last ten years.
Blue Flag 2026 — Fontinha · Ribeiro Salgado · Cabeço da Ponta
Flag flown until 30 September 2026 (from 5 June at Fontinha and Ribeiro Salgado, 1 June at Cabeço da Ponta). Calheta flew it in 2024 but leaves the list in 2026. Madeira's first Blue Flags were raised in 1989, one of them at Fontinha.
Bathing season 2026 — Lifeguards guaranteed on 3 stretches
Fontinha and Cabeço da Ponta from 15 May to 31 October, Ribeiro Salgado from 1 May to 31 October. Penedo, Pedras Pretas, Ribeiro Cochino, Lagoa, Calheta and Porto das Salemas are designated bathing waters from 1 June to 30 September with no surveillance guaranteed by the national order: follow the flags and the "praia não vigiada" signs.
Wildlife — Terns, plovers, loggerhead turtles
The Kentish plover, a rare beach nester, is "Critically Endangered" in the region; the loggerhead turtle frequents the reserve's waters.
Safety — Flags · lifeguards · 112
Advice from the National Maritime Authority: favour supervised beaches, respect the flags and the lifeguards' instructions, stay hydrated, avoid the sun from 11am to 4pm, keep away from unstable cliffs; in an emergency do not enter the water but alert the lifeguard or dial 112.
Walking in Porto Santo6
Access and booking 2026 — €4.50 per person · 30-minute slots · SIMplifica
Since 1 January 2026: €4.50 for the public, €3 with an operator holding an IFCN protocol; free for residents of the Region and children up to 12, but registration is compulsory for everyone. Book on simplifica.madeira.gov.pt, from sunrise to sunset.
Trail status — PR1 open · PR2 open · PR3 partially closed
On the official list, PR3 is passable only between Camacha and the Graça chapel: the 530 m tunnel towards Ribeiro Formoso is closed. Check the open/closed list (IFCN) before setting off.
Waymarking — Yellow and red marks of the Pequenas Rotas (PR)
All the Region's recommended trails are PR: under 30 km or less than a day's walk. A yellow-and-red stripe confirms the right way, a cross marks the wrong one; never destroy or alter the signs.
Rules of conduct — Stay on the trail · no fires · no litter
IFCN rules: stay on the path, do not pick plants or disturb animals, leave nothing behind (paper tissues decompose very slowly), light no fires, drop no cigarette ends, avoid noise.
Safety — Don't walk alone · tell someone · 112
Get up-to-date information on the route, announce your itinerary and return time, finish before dark, carry spare water and food, suitable footwear and clothing, and a phone. In heavy rain or strong wind, give up or go back the same way. Emergencies: 112 · Civil Protection: 291 700 112.
The Pico do Facho path — Unmarked vereda from Pico do Castelo
No road reaches the summit; the path starts at Pico do Castelo. It is not a classified trail and has no official distance or time. The name recalls the fires (fachos) lit to signal approaching pirate ships.