Madeira authorities have checked around 5,500 users of classified pedestrian trails since the beginning of April in a regional operation focused on access fees and trail rules. The Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation, known as IFCN, said inspectors found 43 cases of visitors who had not paid the mandatory access fee for official walking routes. Those users were fined 50 euros and paid the amount during the inspection process. Manuel Filipe, president of the IFCN, said the controls were expanded after an earlier awareness campaign at the start of the year. The IFCN also reported seven infractions involving illegal entry onto closed walking routes since the beginning of 2026, affecting eight people. In those cases, authorities imposed fines of 250 euros, and the inspections were carried out randomly by forestry police officers and environmental wardens on trails including Vereda do Areeiro, Levada das 25 Fontes, Caminho do Pináculo e Folhadal and Caminho Real da Encumeada. At the same event marking 10 years of the IFCN, Eduardo Jesus, Madeira’s regional secretary for tourism and environment, rejected claims that Fanal Forest is being damaged by visitor pressure.
