[2] Ferragudo serves mainly as a bedroom community for its much larger neighbour, the city of Portimão; its residents routinely travel across the Arade River to work in the neighboring municipality.

Similarly, the Bishop of Silves, D. Fernando Coutinho erected a wall to protect the population, at the same time ordering the construction of the local castle; he remained in the area until his death.

[4] With the collapse of the fishing industry along the southern coast, the civil parish began to move to a tertiary economic model, concentrating on attracting tourism into the region.

[4] The civil parish is bordered on the west and south by Arade River and the Atlantic Ocean, and its landscapes are coloured by the fishing economy and tourist beaches, such as Angrinha, Caneiros, Torrados, Infanta, Afurada, João Lopes, Molhe, Pintadinho and Praia Grande.

Meanwhile agriculture and the raising of cattle herds (dairy and meat) was always present within the territory (also influenced by the changes in the business cycles), while the cultivation of almonds, figs and carob predominated.