The 2027 Portimão-Lagoa Beach Mediterranean Games were today presented in Taranto, Italy, with the competition to take place between September 11 and 18 and to include 14 sports. The executive director of the organizing committee, Pedro Farromba, detailed the sports programme, indicating that Rocha Beach will host beach football, beach tennis, triathlon, beach sprint rowing, sailing (kitesurf and iQFoil), basket 3x3 and padel, while Lagoa's Praia Grande will receive beach volleyball, beach handball, sea kayaking, open water swimming and wrestling.
At Rocha Beach, the main stadium will be built with capacity for 2,500 spectators, where the Opening Ceremony will take place on September 11. Between 800 and 900 athletes will be distributed across 11 hotels, being able to walk to the venues, aiming to avoid the transport problems that have affected the Mediterranean Games currently taking place in Taranto and promoting sustainability as one of the great flags of the event.
As a symbol of the event, a lighthouse inspired by the Ferragudo Lighthouse was chosen, representing "the light that connects all people who navigate the sea." Two lighthouses will be installed in the two municipalities from September 18. Triathlete João Pereira, the first Portuguese Mediterranean champion, will leave Taranto on Thursday to visit Olympic committees in Italy, San Marino and Spain, while sailor José Costa will undertake a sea voyage from Morocco, arriving on land on the 19th.
The secretary-general of the International Mediterranean Games Committee expressed satisfaction with the progress of the organization and highlighted that the municipalities and the Olympic Committee are very advanced and prepared, emphasizing that the mission is to promote Mediterranean values and provide the region with the certainty that "in these critical times we will continue to live in peace."
