Porto Santo

Portugal’s Golden Island!

With Oura Branca - the Liquid Gold

Portugal’s Golden Island!

PORTO SANTO

With Oura Branca - the Liquid Gold

PORTO SANTO

Portugal’s Golden Island!

With Oura Branca - the Liquid Gold

Portugal’s Golden Island!

PORTO SANTO

Portugal’s Golden Island!

With Oura Branca - the Liquid Gold

Portugal’s Golden Island!

PORTO SANTO

Portugal’s Golden Island!

With the Golden Nectar

PORTO SANTO

If there are places that appear to have materialized from the realm of dreams, Porto Santo unquestionably stands among them.

Also referred to as the “Golden Island,” Porto Santo spans 11 kilometres in length and 6 kilometres in width. Situated in the Atlantic Ocean, it lies 500 kilometres off the African Coast, 900 kilometres southwest of Lisbon, and 1300 kilometres from the Azores Islands. Occupying an area of approximately 41 square kilometres, Porto Santo is home to a population of 5,000 residents.

Despite its modest population, the island of Porto Santo has ambitious plans to achieve carbon neutrality by adopting electric cars and embracing renewable energy sources.

Porto Santo may be small in size, but it boasts remarkable natural attractions. Its crystalline waters and an iconic 9-kilometre stretch of golden sand are particularly captivating.

With year-round sunshine, picturesque cliffs, and idyllic swimming spots, the island is a highly sought-after destination for travellers. While lounging on the pristine sands, you’ll discover that the famous beaches of Porto Santo possess therapeutic properties renowned for alleviating rheumatism and circulatory issues.

Among the island’s recent admirers are the nearby Madeirans, who sail over for weekend getaways, enticed by the unbroken 9-kilometre beach that graces Porto Santo’s southern shoreline—a feature their rocky island lacks. Furthermore, renowned footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, hailing from Madeira, has invested in luxury hotel here. The island boasts a capacity of more than 2800 hotel rooms/beds.

In recent years some cruise ships have passed by Ponto Santo and with possible future attractions on the island, like the distillery and Christopher Columbus World, many cruise ships will come and visit the island for a day.

Located 5 minutes from the city centre of Porto Santo, on the Madeira archipelago, Porto Santo Airport is a modern airport mainly concerned with tourist traffic. In 2022, Porto Santo Airport welcomed 220,000 passengers. In 2024 ANA announced that they will spend €50 million on an improved terminal.

So, get ready to relax and unwind while receiving some natural healing on the beach. We’ve got everything you need to know for your next visit to Portugal’s Golden Island!
https://beportugal.com/porto-santo/

It appears that prior knowledge of Atlantic islands like Madeira existed long before their official discovery and settlement. Maps dating as far back as 1339 include these islands, indicating their earlier presence. A portolan dating to 1351, preserved in Florence, Italy, suggests that Madeira’s islands had been discovered long before the Portuguese expedition of 1418 claimed them. There is even some evidence to suggest that the Vikings may have visited Madeira 350-400 years earlier.

However, the discovery of Porto Santo Island and the other Madeira islands was not documented until 1418. Porto Santo was accidentally discovered when captains, caught in a storm, sought refuge in its sheltered harbour. The name “Porto Santo” (meaning “Holy Harbour” in English) was inspired by the sailors’ accounts of finding a protected bay during the tempest, which they interpreted as a divine deliverance. The first Portuguese settlers arrived in the 1420s.

Bartolomeu Perestrelo, a member of the expedition that explored the Madeira Islands, became the first Captain-donatário of Porto Santo through a royal grant in November 1445. During the voyage, he released a female rabbit that had given birth, along with her offspring. The rabbits multiplied rapidly in the Xeric Island ecosystem, which had evolved in isolation and had never encountered a flightless mammal before. This led to the loss of native flora and made the island slopes vulnerable to erosion and colonization by European weeds brought by the settlers. Consequently, “the Porto Santo of 1400 is as inaccessible to us as the world before the mythical Noachian flood.”

Life in Porto Santo during the early centuries of settlement was harsh. Potable water was scarce, and the presence of feral rabbits posed a challenge. The island also faced constant attacks from Barbary Coast pirates and French privateers.

Porto Santo already promotes itself as a Biosphere Reserve.
In 2020 the regional secretary for the Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Susana Prada, unveiled the sign referring to the official announcement of the island of Porto Santo as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, in Largo do Pelourinho, Vila Baleira.

Porto Santo Golf Course
Porto Santo Golf Course is one of the best golf courses in Portugal, and it is considered one of the best golf courses in the world. Porto Santo Golf Club, January 2020 – YouTube

The golf resort is made up of:

• An 18-hole, par-72 course designed by the late famous golfer Severiano Ballesteros Sota. His course reaches a distance of 5980m and combines natural obstacles and man-made challenges to ensure a truly demanding round of golf.
• A luxurious clubhouse with 2 restaurants and a range of spa facilities (Sauna and Turkish bath)

Ballesteros used all his golfing savoir-faire when designing this course. He picked his favourite aspects of famous golf courses throughout the world and combined them to create a course that is challenging for all players regardless of level.

With deep bunkers, elevated greens and tricky water hazards, it is safe to say that there will never be a dull moment during your round. All of this, combined with the breathtaking views of the surrounding island landscape and the crystal blue views of the North Atlantic Ocean, will whisk you away to a place of complete tranquillity.

The desalinisation plant in Porto Santo

Freshwater has in the past been an issue in Porto Santo, however in the last years; there has been a desalination plant.

Solar Humidification
The use of direct solar energy for desalinating seawater has been investigated and used for some time. During World War II (from 1939 to 1945), small solar stills were developed for use on life rafts. These devices imitate the natural hydrologic cycle in that the Sun’s rays heat the seawater so that the production of water vapour (humidification) increases. The water vapour is then condensed on a cool surface, and the condensate is collected as freshwater.

This type of process is the solar greenhouse in Porto Santo, Portugal, in which the seawater is heated in basins, resulting in the condensation of water vapour on the sloping glass roof that covers the basins.

Although the thermal energy may be free, the stills are expensive to construct, additional energy is needed to pump the water to and from the facility, vapour can leak from the stills, and careful operation and maintenance are needed to prevent scale formation.

Generally, these types of solar humidification units have been used for desalinating seawater on a small scale, where solar energy is abundant, but electricity is not.
Read more: http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Da-En/Desalinization.html#ixzz6eu3Rxc8B

Porto Santo History and Culture (from Porto Santo History and Culture )
“Porto Santo was the first island in the Madeiran archipelago to be settled. Probably the first humans to set foot on Porto Santo did so some 600 years ago, after being washed ashore by a storm while exploring the Barbary Coast. These hapless sailors – led by João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz – had been sent on a voyage of discovery by Prince Henry the Navigator, and made a beeline back to Portugal to report what they had found. The prince dispatched a ship under Bartolomeu Perestrelo to colonise the island, also sending Zarco and Vaz back in their own vessels to explore further. The flotilla arrived sometime in the 1420s, and by 1446, Perestrelo had earned the hereditary title of “Captain” of Porto Santo.

Perestrelo planted vines and sugar cane, and tapped the local Dragon Trees for ‘Dragon’s Blood’, a hugely valuable resin used for medicines and dyes. He also introduced rabbits, which was not such a good move as they ate everything else up, and Porto Santo has never fully recovered. Zarco and Vaz moved on to found a settlement on Madeira, which took over in importance, and Porto Santo continued quietly in sun-baked obscurity until the present day. With one notable exception. Bartolomeu Pestrelo’s daughter Filipa Moniz married a sugar merchant named Christopher Columbus.

Much of the story is lost in legend, but we do know that Columbus was based on Madeira around 1478, and it would appear that his in-laws gave him land on Porto Santo after he married Filipa in 1479, but she died in childbirth a year or two later. The story goes that while on Porto Santo Columbus began studying ocean currents, intrigued by ‘Sea Hearts’ (seeds of Entada gigas) washed on to the beach by the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean. Or (some say) got a tip-off about a land across the ocean from sailors washed up after a wreck. What we do know is that in 1480, Columbus laid out his plan for a voyage across the Atlantic before the king of Portugal, and later to Isabella of Spain, and in 1485 set off on his expedition. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

Video on YouTube about Porto Santo

Porto Santo Island | 4K 1 Hour Cinematic FPV Drone With Calming Music – YouTube (1 Hour)

Porto Santo aerial view 🏝️ Ponta da Calheta – Ilhéu da Cal 🏖️ Praia do Cabeço – 4K Ultra HD – YouTube (7 Minutes)

Porto Santo, Europe’s Hidden Hawaii | Madeira 4K – YouTube (3:37 min)

Discover Porto Santo Madeira Portugal – YouTube (3:51 min)

Porto Santo paradise island – YouTube (4:22 min)

Porto Santo Golf Club, January 2020 – YouTube (3:28 min)

Porto Santo 2022 – DJI mini 3 pro 4k – YouTube (7:29 min)

Porto Santo Island (Portugal) – Travel Inspiration & Chill Discovery Vlog – Best Things To Do – YouTube (2024) (18:39 min)

Porto Santo Beach aerial view – 4K Ultra HD – YouTube (3:34 min)

Porto Santo green Island in 4K UHD – YouTube (14:54 min)

Porto Santo, Maidera -DJI Mavic Mini Drone Footage – YouTube (3:26 min)