The Arade () is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

located in the region of the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

, southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. the river's course takes it through the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Silves, Lagoa and

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

. The river remains navigable from the breakwaters at Portimao to the town of Silves. The sourceSilves, ''Tourist Guide to the Town and Borough'', By J.D. Garcia Domingues (Empresa Litográfica Do Sul, S.A.). of the river lies to the southwest of the Serra do Caldeirão mountain ridge, in a valley called Barranco do Pé do Coelho. The river has a total length of , with its source being above sea level. The mouth of the river empties into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

between the city of Portimão and the

freguesia (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Portuguese over ...

of Ferragudo, in Lagoa Municipality. From the time of the Moors until the 19th century, the Arade was navigable up to as far as Silves about , where an important

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

used to exist, especially for the

cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

trade. Nowadays only small boats can go that far.

Dams

Part of the reason for the present low water flow (and subsequent silting up) of the river has been the erection of two dams in the middle reaches of the river—the Barragem (Dam) de Arade and above it the Barragem do Funcho. On 23 May 2023 on a peninsula near the Arade Dam which is near Silves and is about from where three year old Madeleine McCann was last seen in her bed at the Ocean Club in

Praia da Luz Praia da Luz (), officially Luz, is a civil parish of the municipality of Lagos, in Algarve region, Portugal. The population of the civil parish in 2011 was 3,545, in an area of 21.78 km2 (9½ sq. mi.). Also known as ''Santorini de Portugal'', ...

on 3 May 2007 only days before her fourth birthday, Portuguese police along with German and British colleagues began a search of an area just over a long for possible evidence in the

disappearance of Madeleine McCann Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person, who at the age of 3 disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, Lagos, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007. ''The Daily Telegraph'' ...

. Previously, a child's sock was found in the search area in 2008. Hans Christian Wolters of the German prosecutors office in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

with support from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) requested the May 2023 search which is being coordinated by the deputy director of

Polícia Judiciária The (; PJ; ) is the national criminal investigation police agency of Portugal, focused in fighting serious crimes, including homicides, kidnapping, organized crime, terrorism, illegal drug trade, corruption, cybercrime and financial crime. It i ...

's Northern Directorate. Christian Brückner (also known simply as "Christian B" under German privacy laws) was living in a VW camper van near Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared. Began in 2011, Operation Grange is the code name of the case involving the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

References

{{coord, 37.111, N, 8.524, W, display=title, source:ptwiki Rivers of the Algarve Rivers of Portugal