Guimarães is the Portuguese municipality with the largest number of parishes – a total of 19 – awarded the green flag of the Blue Flag Association of Europe (ABAE). This award distinguishes the parishes with the best environmental, socio-economic and cultural sustainability practices adopted over the last two years.

The parishes of Caldelas and Brito were two of the main winners, by raising the gold standard. In the range of parishes with up to ten thousand inhabitants, Caldelas was considered, at a national level, the eco-parish with the best index, with the Senior Thermal Spa Program being considered a good practice within the scope of the Health and Well-Being indicator.

A dozen parishes in the municipality – Creixomil, Sāo Torcato, Urgezes, Costa, Barco, Ronfe, Guardizela, Prazins Santo Tirso and Corvite, Fermentões, Briteiros Santo Estevão and Donim – were awarded the silver flag. The bronze flag was awarded to Silvares, Aldāo, Leitōes, Oleiros and Figueiredo, Longos, Ponte, Gondar and Penselo.

Domingos Bragança, Mayor of Guimarães, congratulated all the candidates and underlined that “this is the path of sustainability that Guimarães promotes, from the local to the global”. Domingos Bragança mentioned that the municipality will continue to support technically and financially the participation of the parishes in this ABAE program, reinforcing “the governance ecosystem, the importance they have for the monitoring of environmental public policies and for the change of citizens, towards a city that we want to be climate neutral by 2030”, says the mayor, quoted in a statement.