A section of the A22 motorway in the western Algarve was shut for a period overnight after a man was struck by a car while walking on the carriageway. The incident happened on the Portimão-Lagos stretch, between the Alvor junction and the exit serving the Autódromo do Algarve racetrack.
According to GNR police, the man had crashed his own light vehicle earlier in the night. Instead of staying off the road, he climbed over the central divider and began walking along the opposite side of the motorway. He was hit there by a car travelling in the Lagos-Portimão direction and was taken to Portimão Hospital, where police described his condition as serious. Officers said there were no other victims, indicating the driver who hit him was unharmed. Why the man was on foot on the motorway remains unclear.
For holidaymakers, the takeaways are mostly practical. The A22 — officially the Via do Infante — is the main east-west route across the Algarve, and the Portimão-Lagos section is one of its busiest parts in summer, carrying rental cars, airport transfers and locals between the coast's biggest resort towns. A night closure on this stretch can seriously disrupt anyone driving between Lagos, Portimão and the eastern resorts or heading to Faro Airport, so it's worth checking traffic updates before a late transfer or early flight.
It is also a reminder of how motorway driving works in Portugal. The A22 has no hard shoulder for much of its length and is unlit outside built-up areas, so a person or broken-down vehicle on the carriageway is extremely hard to spot at night. If you have an accident or breakdown on a Portuguese motorway, the standard advice is to pull as far right as possible, switch on hazard lights, wear a reflective vest (a legal requirement in the car) and wait behind the barriers — never walk on the road. Emergency numbers are 112, and the GNR patrols the A22 routinely.
Road-safety incidents like this are rare for visitors, and the Algarve remains one of Europe's easiest self-drive regions: quiet inland roads, well-signed coastal routes and tolls that can be paid electronically. Just keep night driving on the motorway to a minimum, and if you're renting a car, make sure the transponder for the electronic toll system is activated before you set off.
