The October run continues. Portimão Arena hosts a record-breaking European judo championship from Thursday, drawing more than 1,400 athletes from across the continent to the city for four days. On the high street, the long-expected Mercadona arrived in the Algarve last week, opening its first regional store in Portimão with a second confirmed for Faro in November. For those still on the coast, the week ahead offers Halloween programming at Zoomarine, a walking football tournament in Lagoa on Friday, and a chamber concert at the Portimão Museum on Saturday evening.

This week in the west

Mercadona opens its first Algarve store in Portimão

The Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona opened its first Algarve location on Thursday 15 October at the Nova Vila Retail Park in Portimão, representing an investment of over 6.5 million euros and creating 100 permanent jobs from day one. The store covers 1,900 square metres and becomes the 77th in the Portuguese network. Mercadona has been building its presence in Portugal since 2019 and the Algarve was among the last of the country's major urban areas to receive a branch; the opening was well-attended and drew considerable local interest. A second Algarve store is already confirmed for Faro, scheduled to open on 12 November.

Portimão to host the largest European Veterans Judo Championships ever recorded

The Portimão Arena becomes the centre of European veteran judo from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October, as the city hosts the European Veterans Judo Championships with 1,415 athletes from 36 countries: a record for this competition. The individual programme runs across all four days. Entry is free throughout, making it an accessible spectacle for anyone who would like to watch high-level competition in a tournament of genuine continental significance. The Arena is on the riverside on the western approach to the city. For a city that has hosted World Sailing inclusion championships and now this, it is proving a consistent draw for adapted and veteran sport at international level.

What's on this week

European Veterans Judo Championships, Portimão Arena, Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October

The European Veterans Judo Championships run at the Portimão Arena from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October, free entry on all four days, with individual competition across age categories and weight classes. This is the largest edition of the event ever held, with 1,415 athletes registered from 36 countries. The Arena is on the riverfront in the western part of the city, well signposted and with parking nearby.

Zoomarine Halloween programme, Guia, from Tuesday 20 October

Zoomarine, the marine park at Guia near Albufeira, launches its Halloween special programming from Tuesday 20 October, with themed shows, decorations and activities running across the programme. Zoomarine sits roughly midway between Portimão and Faro and makes a practical day trip from the western Algarve, particularly for families. Standard Zoomarine admission applies; check the park's own channels for the full Halloween schedule and end date, which sources place in late October or early November.

I Torneio de Walking Football do Algarve, Estômbar, Lagoa, Friday 23 October

The first walking football tournament in the Algarve takes place at the Campo Desportivo Municipal de Estômbar in the Lagoa municipality on Friday 23 October, starting at 9am. Walking football, a version of the game played at walking pace, is designed to keep older or less mobile players active and in the game; the format has grown steadily across Portugal and this is its first dedicated regional tournament. Estômbar is a short distance inland from Carvoeiro, in the heart of the Lagoa municipality, 12 kilometres east of Lagos.

Barlavento Ensemble: Autumn Concert, Portimão Museum, Saturday 24 October

The Barlavento Ensemble brings its autumn concert to the Museu de Portimão on Saturday 24 October at 6:30pm. The museum on the Arade riverfront is one of the most atmospheric performance spaces in the western Algarve, housed in a converted 19th-century fish cannery whose industrial bones make for an unusual and rewarding setting. The ensemble draws musicians from the region and the concert is a well-established fixture in the autumn cultural calendar. Check the museum's own listings for ticket details.

Coming up

Algarve Classic Festival, Portimão circuit, Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November

The Iberian Peninsula's largest historic motor racing weekend is now a fortnight away. More than 300 historic cars and 500 drivers from over 20 countries will race at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, with categories spanning pre-war grand prix machinery through to 1970s endurance prototypes, touring cars and turbocharged-era Formula One cars. Entry for children aged 3 to 16 is free. The circuit is 12 kilometres north of Portimão city centre.

Pedra Dura: Festival de Dança do Algarve, Lagos, Wednesday 4 to Saturday 14 November

The 5th edition of Pedra Dura, the Algarve's dance festival, opens in Lagos on Wednesday 4 November and runs to Saturday 14 November, with 24 shows across dance, music and cinema. The festival opens at the Armazém Regimental in Lagos and spreads across venues in the city. Artists confirmed for this edition include Alessandro Sciarroni, Vera Mantero and Clara Andermatt, names that place the programme at international contemporary-dance level. Full ticketing details are expected on the festival's channels in the coming days.

Concierge corner

This week, go up into the hills

I have spent most of these columns pointing you at the sea, and the last few weeks especially. It is October, the water is still warm, and the coast has earned every word. But the coast is only half the Algarve. Behind it the land climbs, and late in the month, with the air turning, the hills are where I would send you.

Aim for the Serra de Monchique, the green ridge you can see standing inland from almost anywhere on the coast. The drive up is the whole point. Within half an hour of leaving the resorts the white walls and the palm trees fall away, and you are among cork oak, eucalyptus and chestnut, the air cooler and damper and smelling of woodland. It feels less like the next town over and more like a different country stacked on top of the one you drove in from.

Keep climbing to Fóia, the roof of the Algarve at just over 900 metres. On a clear day the whole province lies underneath you, the coast running from Lagos round towards the cape and the sea going to silver beyond it. The operative phrase is a clear day. Come up in cloud and you will stand in a cold grey nothing and wonder what I was on about, so pick your morning and check the sky before you set off.

Lower down, find Caldas de Monchique, the little thermal spa hamlet tucked into a fold in the woods. People have bathed in its warm springs since the Romans, and today it is a handful of buildings around a stream, deep shade, birdsong and not a great deal to do, which is exactly its gift. Sit with a coffee, listen to the water, let an hour go nowhere.

This is also the season the hills come into their own. The medronho berry is ripening now, and quietly, in sheds all over the serra, it is being turned into the fierce clear spirit the town is famous for. The chestnuts are coming too, heading for the roasting fires around São Martinho in November. Add the local honey, the smoked ham and the piri-piri chicken the roadside grills do so well, and you have lunch sorted without trying.

A few honest notes. The roads up are narrow and full of bends, so take them gently and let the tailgating local past rather than hurrying. It is several degrees cooler at the top than on the beach, so bring a proper layer even if you leave Luz in shorts. And the medronho is a good deal stronger than its friendly little glass suggests, so decide who is driving down before anyone starts pouring.

Here is what I tell the guests in the villas I look after. The coast is why you came, and you should go back to it. But give the hills one morning, stand on top and look down at the strip of sand you have been lying on all week, and the whole holiday quietly rearranges itself into something bigger.

And if a man outside a café presses a small glass of something clear and homemade into your hand and assures you it is purely medicinal, believe him. Up to a point.

Mark

The week's weather

October has run well above its usual averages across the western Algarve. The settled, warm conditions of the past fortnight are likely to ease as the month turns, with late October typically bringing more variability and the first meaningful chance of rain, but the sea temperature remains warm and the days still long enough for comfortable outdoor time. A layer for the evening is sensible; a morning on the coast or at the cape will still reward the effort.

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