Madalena do Mar is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta do Sol in the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 516, in an area of 2.07 km2.

History

By conjecture, the primitive community was referred to as Madalena or Santa Maria Madalena, and received its suffix from its location along the sea, in order to distinguish it from the parish and chapel of Santa Maria Madalena, in the parish of Porto Moniz (which was the centre of pilgrimages). Even today, the area is still referred to as Madalena by many of the locals. The parish had its origin in a small farm and houses, including chapel (whose patron was Santa Maria Madalena, but yet invoked to the name of Santa Catarina. From this origin, many noblemen concentrated into the area, as noted in Saudades da Terra by Gaspar Frutuoso:

Geography

This parish on the south-west coast of Madeira in the shadow of Canhas, and buttressed by the civil parish of Arco da Calheta, while fronting the Atlantic Ocean.

Economy

The primary activity in the community is the cultivation of bananas, with much of the land along the cliff faces occupied by terraced fields with rows of banana plants. Madalena do Mar is a parish with a primary school.