In response to the massive gathering of voyeurs, officials have banned surfing at Nazare, Portugal's premier big wave attraction, and one of the world's most iconic surf spots.
This follows last week's "century swell" which saw everything from potentially world-record-breaking rides, altercations between Jetski drivers and terrifying wipeouts.
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Portugal’s National Health Commission announced the ban on Wednesday, November 4th, to remain in place "until further notice."
Surfline reports, it's "understood that the Mayor of Nazaré is working to allow freesurfers access to the water, outside of 'events.'"
This could pose challenges for the Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge, the waiting period of which just began on November the 2nd.
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A (translated) statement from the harbour HQ, sent to a Magic Seaweed source via Whatsapp, reads:
“In the current context of the pandemic in Portugal, as determined by the regional health delegate and the regional health administration, Free Surf and Tow-in surfing are banned at Praia do Norte, due to the promotion of the public agglomeration, which constitutes an increased risk for the public health. Failure to comply with this determination incurs in a criminal offence punished by law.”
“There were too many people on the beach, 20-30k people on the beach man, so yeah, maybe it's the right decision,” Portuguese big wave surfer Nic Von Rupp told Magic Seaweed. “They can ban it, but that swell that happened was pretty historic. I don't think there'll be another swell like that.”
Andrew Cotton, an English big wave surfer, who was also in Nazare last week, told Magic Seaweed he had no plans to appeal the decision: "I understand their position and it’s for the benefit and safety of others and the local community. It effects a lot more people that the surfers though, which is a great shame.”
Nazare regular Rafael Tapia, however, who got injured the day before the big swell came in, told Magic Seaweed: "I think it's a terrible decision."
Though Tapia recognises "the situation on the cliff was chaos... considering the COVID situation in Europe" he told Magic Seaweed he believes there are smarter ways of solving the problem.
"I was in the water for the first day of the the swell and the very small surfing community out there were safe and taking precautions. Second day, I was sidelined from an injury and was on the cliff doing live commentary. That was bad. People came from so many places and there was no real space for social distancing correctly."
"Considering that it's so easy to block the entrances to Nazare, I hope this decision is reviewed. Feels like us, the surfers, will be paying for the irresponsible behaviours of spectators. It's our passion, our job and authorities can easily control that. Although the risk of getting injured in Nazare is quite high, it's very unlikely we will put pressure on the hospital system, but that is not a reason surfing should be banned."
No official word has been said on this topic, but if DMARGE had to guess, we'd say the closure is symbolic (perhaps a la Manly and Bondi's temporary closures earlier this year), intended to deter visitors more so than surfers, and that a resolution to keep the professional sportspeople happy will soon be underway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI1XDFl1sGc&t=3s
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The post Surfing Banned At World’s Most Famous Big Wave Spot appeared first on DMARGE.
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