Nothing happens in the hamlet of CACELA VELHA but it merits a footnote in history because it was here in June 1833 that the English Admiral Charles Napier, known to many of his compatriots as Mad Charley, put 2,500 Portuguese troops ashore during a civil war known as the War of the Two Brothers. The troops, commanded by the Duke of Terceira siding with the Liberals against the Conservatives, marched by way of Tavira and Lagos to occupy the capital, Lisbon. Earlier, as commander of the Liberal Navy, Napier had defeated the Conservative's fleet off Cape St. Vincent. The Liberals rewarded Napier by making him a Count.

The only renmant of war in Cacela Velha today is a tiny fort, now a police station, with a peaceful, panoramic view over a lagoon and the broad, sandy strand that starts at Cabanas and runs all the way to Montegordo.

This beach of amazing proportions changes names and has several signposted access points along the EN 125. Manta Rota, Alagoas and Praia Verde all boast big expanses of sand with beachside tourist facilities, but MONTEGORDO is a fully fledged resort, populated in summer particularly by holiday-makers from Lisbon, Oporto, Britain, Germany and Spain. A small casino, one of only three in the Algarve, is one of the big night-time draws. It's right on the beachfront.