"Arrábida Without Cars" returns with a free shuttle between beaches

The bathing season has started, which in Setúbal means the return of the program Arrábida Without Cars. From June 1st until the end of September, traffic restrictions are back in place on the beaches of Albarquel, Creiro and Portinho da Arrábida. A measure that aims to optimize the limited parking that exists in the bathing areas and thus guarantee emergency access, and which is also presented as an environmental initiative and promotion of public transport.

Once again, people are invited to leave their car in the parking lot of the Alegro shopping center or the Secil-Outão Factory, and take one of the many Carris Metropolitana buses to the beach. Frequencies vary between 10 and 30 minutes, and the less traffic there is (in other words, the more people who decide not to take their cars to Arrábida), the more reliable the public transport will be. The yellow buses also pass through Setúbal city center, as well as outside the train station (particularly line 4474) and the Várzea bus terminal.

Free line between beaches

O Arrábida Without Cars This year, it's running on a familiar model, similar to previous years, with one new feature: this time there's a free line connecting three beaches: Creiro, Galapinhos and Galapos. A line 4477 is a response to the existing conditions on the coastal road - Rua Círio da Arrábida - which has been closed since February 2023 between the beaches of Creiro and Figueirinha due to the danger of a block of rock falling (we'll talk about this later).

Praia do Creio, not only does line 4470 end (which passes the Setúbal ITS/train station and Azeitão) as there is the the last parking lot before the main section restricted to traffic under the Arrábida Without Cars - between the beaches of Creiro and Galapos, you can only travel by motorcycle, bicycle, on foot or by taxi/TVDE.

Thus, the 4477 line, run by small buses, allows you to get to the beaches of Creiro, Galapinhos and Galapos in just a few minutes, free of charge, from Praia do Creiro. The service operates at weekends and on public holidays during the month of June and every day from June 1st, with 30-minute frequencies between 8.30am and 8pm.

According to the Setúbal City Council, this free shuttle is "a fundamental step towards ensuring sustainable mobility and the preservation of the municipality's natural areas"and go "to meet the municipal strategies for decarbonization and promotion of sustainable tourism, ensuring that the beaches of Galapos, Galapinhos and Creiro continue to be accessible to all". Line 4477 will be free of charge under an agreement between Setúbal City Council and Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML), which is responsible for operating Carris Metropolitana. The municipality will pay TML to run the service free of charge and, in turn, TML will compensate the operator Alsa Todi.

By public transport to the beaches

The best way to get to the Arrábida beaches is by taking line 4474, which connects directly to Setúbal's main transport hubs and to the Alegro shopping center, where you can leave your car for free. The 4474 takes you directly to Praia da Figueirinha beach. From here, you can walk to Praia dos Galapos along the coastal road, which is still closed due to the danger of a large block of rock collapsing (pedestrian - or cycling - traffic on the closed section is not recommended and there are signs prohibiting it, but many people do so at their own risk).

From Praia dos Galapos, you have access to the free 4477 line, which will give you a lift to Praia do Creio. You can also make this journey on foot or by bicycle. Between Figueirinha and Creiro, it takes about 40 minutes on foot, 15 minutes by bike; between Figueirinha and Galapos, it takes 20 minutes on foot, 5 minutes by bike.

Another way to get to the beaches is use the 4470which takes you directly to Praia do Creio. You can catch this line in Setúbal (for example, at the train exit) or in Azeitão, where you have direct connections to Lisbon (Sete Rios, more specifically) with line 4730.

Lines 4470, 4471 and 4476 run only on weekends and public holidays in June, but every day between July, August and the beginning of September (when the school term resumes in September, the lines return to being exclusive to weekends and public holidays). Line 4474 runs every day between June and September, more frequently outside the school term.

• The line 4470, which connects Setúbal (ITS) and Azeitão to Praia do CreioThis year, there are six new timetables and adjustments in each direction. Last year, there were only two timetables per direction; this year there are eight timetables per direction. The 4470 is the only bus line to Praia do Creio, a journey that takes about an hour due to the ongoing problem of the rock block, which continues to force the coastal road to be cut. From ITS (train station and bus terminal), the 4470 departs at 8.30am, 10am, 11.30am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm, 5.30pm and 7pm. From the beach, the last departure is at 8pm;
• The line 4471like last year, will maintain a schedule frequency every 20 minutes on weekends and every 30 minutes on working days and will connect downtown Setúbal (Avenida Luísa Todi) to the beaches of Albarquel. It is open between 9am and 8pm;

• The line 4474 allows you to get to Praia da Figueirinha, connecting to the Alegro shopping center, where you can leave your car, but also to the ITS (train station) and the Várzea bus station. Like last year, the will have two routes to Praia da FigueirinhaThere will be alternating departures from Alegro and the Várzea terminal. On the way back from the beach, there will be a route through ITS, Várzea and Alegro. Outside the school term, this line will run 51 times a day during the week and 67 times a day at weekends and on public holidays. The frequency varies between 10 and 20 minutes. (In June and September, you can use the line 4472 as an alternative to the 4474; this line also connects Praia da Figueirinha to the ITS);
• The line 4476As last year, the first departure will be at 8.30 am and the last at 8 pm, with 30-minute intervals between each departure. This line has been shortened due to the problem with the block of rock and connects Praia da Figueirinha to the parking lot of Fábrica Outão. There will be 25 daily services.

All timetables and routes can be viewed here. More information about Arrábida Without Cars can be found on the Metropolitan Railway and the Setúbal City Council.

Coastal road remains closed

Rua Círio da Arrábida, the road that runs along the Arrábida coast between Figueirinha and Creiro beaches, is still closed to car, cycle and pedestrian traffic, due to the risk of a fractured rock block falling on the slope of Serra da Arrábida - a situation that has been going on since February 2023. The block of rock at risk weighs around a thousand tons and is located on land owned by the Secil company, but there's still no solution.

The cut also forced a temporary review of the public transport offer there. Line 4472, which used to run between Setúbal and the beaches of Figueirinha and Creiro all year round, has now been shortened to Praia da Figueirinha; line 4476, which used to run along several beaches between Figueirinha and Creio, has also had its usual route changed.

In February, the The mayor of Setúbal, André Martins, said he was going to ask Luís Montenegro's new government for a meeting in order to come up with a solution.after encountering silence and inertia on the part of António Costa's Executive. "We will continue to insist that the government takes on the responsibilities it has already acknowledged and, on the first day that the new government is in office, I will take the initiative to immediately request another meeting with whoever is responsible for this area, in order to move forward with the necessary solutions" he said.

André Martins explained, also in February, that the decision to close the road was taken "following a meeting of the Municipal Civil Protection Commission, and given the evidence of the images that were presented" the risk of the rock falling. "The risk of the block collapsing is well documented by technical analyses that we cannot ignore. It is clearly dangerous to drive on that road under the current circumstances"he said at the time.

The Mayor of Setúbal said that the contact with the previous Ministry of the Environment in July 2023 had resulted in a commitment to solve the problem with funding from the Environmental Fund and the launch of a public tender, so that a technical study could be carried out to support the concrete resolution of the problem. "From the joint meeting held in June last year" with the Secretariats of State for the Environment and Nature Conservation "The decision was taken to carry out a technical study to define the conditions for intervention to resolve this serious problem"he said. At the same meeting it was decided "that it was necessary to contact specialist companies in order to help define the specifications and the base value for the launch of the public tender for the preparation of this study"and the Chamber has sent to the government offices "the result of companies' contributions" in October 2023.

But, according to André Martins, there was no response from the secretariats of state of the previous executive in order to move forward with this technical study and resolve a situation that is localized "on private property located in a natural park, where the City Council has no powers to intervene". The issue will now be in the hands of the new Minister for the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Emídio Sousa.