Ericeira is a fishing village, situated near Mafra, in the district of Lisbon, Portugal. The village is located in an area normally nominated “West Zone”. The name “Ericeira” means “land of the hedgehog”, a reference to the animal that could once be found in great number in the area.
Ericeira is an ancient village, the first reference to the place go back to the year 1000 BC. However, the village was only officially founded in 1229 AD, through the granting of a charter.
It was in Ericeira that in 1910, the king D. Manuel II and the rest of the royal family boarded on a ship to Brazil, since they were forced to leave the country after the revolution that took down Monarchy and instituted a Democratic Republic in the country.
Throughout the years, the economic activity of the village has always been connected to the sea, initially due to fishing, which is still practiced, and more recently with the spread of nautical sports, particularly surf.
In fact, Ericeira is considered the Portuguese capital of surf; the long line of coast along the entire village makes it the ideal place to maritime activities, and surf is one of the most popular sports, since the sea conditions are favorable to its practice. There are a lot of beaches where it is possible to surf in Ericeira, but the one that stands out the most and that is more well-known is Ribeira d’Ilhas, a beach where surfers from the entire world go in order to catch some waves, and that has already been one of the spots where the World Qualifying Series of surf was held.
The proliferation of surf related activities has greatly contributed to the development of the tourism in Ericeira, which has been increasing over the last few years, with the opening of several schools and hostels directly connected to the practice of surf.
Besides its beaches, Ericeira has some other local points of interest for tourists, such as São Sebastião Chapel, São Pedro Church or the Forth of Nossa Senhora da Natividade, as well as the Mafra Palace and Convent, which is very close to the village.
