The lighthouse will be the symbol guiding the journey towards the Portimão-Lagoa 2027 Mediterranean Beach Games, officially presented today in Taranto. Pedro Farromba, Executive Director of the Portimão-Lagoa 2027 Organising Committee, presented the competition and outlined the countdown plan for the event, which will take place from 18 to 25 September 2027 and will place sustainability at the heart of its organisation.
Pedro Farromba presented the Games' roadmap, including the preliminary sports schedule and the distribution of sports across the venues. Praia da Rocha, in Portimão, will host beach soccer, beach tennis, triathlon, rowing (beach sprint), sailing (kitesurfing and iQFoil), 3x3 basketball and padel, as well as the Opening Ceremony, which will be “guided by light, united by water”.
Across the Arade River, at Praia Grande in Lagoa, competitions will be held in beach volleyball, beach handball, sea kayaking, open-water swimming and wrestling. Obstacle racing will also feature as an exhibition sport.
Up to 900 athletes are expected to take part in the Portimão-Lagoa 2027 Mediterranean Beach Games. Athletes will be able to make use of existing beachfront hotel facilities, reducing many of the logistical challenges associated with transport. This solution will also help reduce the event's environmental footprint, in line with the commitment to sustainability and the ambition to “if possible, leave the beaches better” than they were found.
“I would like to express our satisfaction with the great progress being made in the organisation of Portimão-Lagoa. We are very proud to see that the Portuguese Olympic Committee and the municipalities are already well advanced and prepared to deliver great Games,” said Iakovos Filippousis, Secretary General of the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games, recalling Portugal's commitment to deliver “the best Games ever”.
“Our great mission is to promote Mediterranean values and to give the people of the Mediterranean basin the certainty that, even in these critical times, we will continue to live in peace,” he added.
The presentation was also attended by Fernando Gomes, President of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP), as well as COP Executive Committee members Domingos Castro and Miguel Pereira. Álvaro Bila, Mayor of Portimão, Luís Encarnação, Mayor of Lagoa, and Carlo Molfetta, Director General of the Taranto 2026 Organising Committee, were also present.
Lighthouse to illuminate the route connecting Taranto and Portimão-Lagoa
The inspiration for the 2017 logo came from the Ferragudo Lighthouse, representing “the light that connects all those who navigate the sea”. Symbolically, two lighthouses will be installed in the two Algarve municipalities from 18 September, marking the countdown to the Mediterranean Beach Games. The countdown will begin as João Pereira's overland journey comes to an end.
The triathlete, who became Portugal's first Mediterranean champion at Tarragona 2018, will leave Taranto tomorrow and travel overland, stopping at several National Olympic Committees, including those of Italy, San Marino and Spain, as well as at lighthouses along his route, where he will collect seawater from the Mediterranean that connects the 26 participating countries.
At the same time, sailor José Costa will undertake a sea journey from Morocco, arriving on Portuguese soil on 18 September.
