Sintra, Portugal, April 10, 2025 (Lusa) — The Sintra local authority said on Thursday that access to the forest of the Serra de Sintra is closed "indefinitely" following the damage caused by the Martinho depression, which is estimated to have felled 98,000 trees on public land.
"For safety reasons, access to the forest is closed indefinitely due to the risks to people and property. Since 20 March, forestry sappers, firefighters, security forces, municipal services and Parques de Sintra have been on the ground combating the devastating effects left by storm Martinho," Sintra Câmara said in a statement.
The depression that hit the mainland on the night of 19 to 20 March caused "thousands of trees to fall in the Serra de Sintra, resulting in a scenario of significant destruction" as a result of an extreme weather phenomenon that combined high levels of rain with extremely strong winds", mainly from the south.
The municipality of Sintra, in coordination with Parques de Sintra-Monte da Lua, which manages the historic monuments and parks, and the municipality of Cascais, began "operations to clear and unblock emergency and rescue forest paths" within the forest of the Serra de Sintra, part of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
"To ensure the safety of everyone, workers and visitors alike, we would like to inform you that the cleaning operations require heavy temporary restrictions on traffic throughout the forest, including roads and trails," the note emphasises.
While the forest accesses and paths are being cleared to normalise the area, "there is a high risk of trees falling, walls collapsing and unstable terrain, which could compromise the safety of those travelling through the hills," the municipality warned.
"Activities such as walking, cycling, sports and any other visits to the mountains are highly discouraged, and it is strictly forbidden to circulate in places marked with gates and on other roads or paths within the risk perimeter," it said.
The interventions, "crucial to ensure safety, involve the use of heavy machinery in forest areas still considered critical", and are "fundamental to reducing the risk of falling trees, land and rocks", as well as "mitigating the risk of fire, protecting the natural heritage and safeguarding the safety of people and property", the note adds.
After the urgent cleaning and stabilisation phase, the forest is to be replanted with native species, in conjunction with all the entities responsible for managing the area and the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, aiming to' increase the forest's resilience to extreme climatic phenomena".
The access gates to the forest are located at the Azóia junction - access to the Portela/EN247-3 junction, on the Urca/Pedras Irmãs road, Portela junction - access to the Capuchos junction, Capuchos/EN247-3 junction - access to the Portela junction, Portela junction - access to Azóia, Capuchos/EN247-3 junction/access to Alto do Monge.
The banned routes are from the Azóia/EN247 junction to the Portela junction (access to Azóia) and from the Capuchos/EN247-3 junction to the Portela junction.
Sofia Cruz, president of the publicly owned company, told Lusa earlier that Storm Martinho caused 98,000 trees to fall and affected 280 hectares (ha) of the approximately 1,000 hectares under the management of Parques de Sintra in the mountain's forest.
Parques de Sintra said that "detailed mapping, carried out using drones and inspections on the ground, has identified around 200 hectares of forest that have been severely affected, of which 89 hectares have suffered serious damage, totalling around 93,000 felled trees".
"In the forests and woodlands, especially those of Monserrate and D. Fernando II, an additional 5,000 trees fell in 80 hectares," he added.
In the weeks before the Martinho depression, the Serra de Sintra experienced high rainfall, causing the soil to become saturated. On the night of 19 to 20 March, there was heavy rain and strong winds, with gusts reaching 169 kilometres/hour at Cabo da Roca.
In addition to the areas to the south of Pena Park, which were most exposed to the wind, Sofia Cruz said that the Moorish Castle was also severely affected, as well as the Capuchos Convent, with damage mainly to the trees, but also to "walls and slopes".
LFS/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
