Porto Santo is a Portuguese municipality that occupies the whole island of Porto Santo, Autonomous Region of Madeira, with its headquarters in a village with a different name from the municipality: the city of Vila Baleira. It has 42.48 km ² of area. It is one of the six municipalities of Portugal that have a single parish, which has the same name. The nearest town is Machico, on the island of Madeira, in the southwest.

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Porto Santo is an extensive sandy beach with a little island to accompany. Along its nine kilometers of soft white sand, you will find only a few hotels and restaurants, making Porto Santo one of the few European destinations yet to be discovered.

It is part of the Portuguese archipelago, which includes Madeira Island - in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the African coast - Porto Santo offers the opportunity to escape from everything. Its volcanic sands have long been recognized for their healing powers, for the various ailments and diseases.

However, the expression 'run away from everything' does not mean 'do absolutely nothing'. The island boasts a top quality international golf course. The hinterland is ideal for energetic hikers, there is even a horseback riding club, possibility to go diving, sport fishing and many other types of amusements are at your disposal. There is a curious touch in its history, as the capital Porto Santo, Vila Baleira served as home, to the less known Christopher Columbus. It is very easy to get to the island, by ferry, from Madeira, or by plane to your international airport.

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Porto Santo shares the signature of some dishes with its neighbor Madeira. You can find the kebab - succulent meat cubes grilled on the spit - and the sword, a strange, but delicious inhabitant from the depths of the ocean, served with banana. Together they will serve the cake of the caco, a bread made with flour and sweet potatoes, traditionally cooked on a flat stone and served with plenty of garlic butter.
There is plenty of fresh fish and seafood and dishes that are enjoyed by groups such as the fragateira (stew of various fish, based on tomatoes, potatoes and onions). Dishes made with cod are the favorites as well as the dry skipjack. After all this, you can enjoy the delicious cakes and puddings, such as passion fruit mousse or egg pudding.

The vineyards in Porto Santo are planted near the sand instead of planted in trellises, and it is said that due to this fact, these grapes give a distinct taste to wine. Much of the harvest goes to neighboring Madeira for the production of the famous generous wine. However there are home-made wines, many of them with a color very similar to rosé. Of course, Portuguese wines are also sold on the island. The brandy, made from sugarcane, is an excellent digestive.

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Porto Santo has a semi-arid climate of the steppe type (BShs, according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification), as it presents a potential annual evapotranspiration higher than annual precipitation (less than 371.75 mm - steppe type because it has a total annual rainfall above half of the potential evapotranspiration threshold), with scarce rainfall, concentrated in the winter months, besides not having permanent water courses, not having also considerable temperature variations, being able to be said that, having a mild climate, there is "heat" whole year. In the summer months the sea water temperature is mild (24ºC / 25ºC), as in late spring and early autumn. For the remaining seasons of the year when the water temperature is mild, there is variation from one to two degrees to colder than in summer.

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