Should I turn the water off at the mains?

Yes, at the apartment's stopcock, after running the taps dry. The exception is a property with a monthly visit that runs the taps; then leave it on, because dry traps and dead meters create their own problems.

Should I switch off the electricity?

Leave the main on with the fridge off, open and empty, and a timer on a lamp. A dehumidifier on a humidistat is the one appliance worth leaving running.

Do not drain it. Keep the filtration running on a reduced winter schedule and have it checked monthly. A drained pool in a wet winter can lift out of the ground.

Does a closed apartment count as empty for IMI?

It can. Under 7 m³ of water and 35 kWh of electricity in a year is one of the legal indicators. See the empty-house guide.

Closing an Algarve apartment for winter: the checklist that stops the March surprises

The Algarve has 300 days of sun a year and 70 of rain, and most of the rain falls while the apartment is shut. The damage I see every spring in other people's units is almost always the same five things. Here is how to shut down properly, and why I still do not trust a shutdown without a monthly visit.

What fails between October and March

Flexible hoses. The braided hoses under sinks and behind toilets perforate with age and the hardness of Algarve water. A pinhole at 3 bar fills a bathroom in a day and the apartment below in a week.
Damp and mould. Closed shutters, no air movement, sea air. Mould on north walls, in wardrobes and behind headboards. Soft furnishings go first.
Drains and traps. Water in sink and shower traps evaporates in six to eight weeks. The smell comes up, and with it drain flies and cockroaches.
Pests. Rodents follow the smell of an empty kitchen. A bag of rice left in a cupboard is enough.
The readings. A sealed apartment reads near zero on water and electricity for the year. Under 7 m³ and 35 kWh is a legal indicator of an empty property and can triple the IMI. See the empty house guide.

The shutdown checklist

Water

Run every tap and shower, then close the apartment stopcock.
Pour half a cup of cooking oil into each trap (sinks, showers, floor drains) to slow evaporation.
Switch the water heater off and, if electric, drain it if the manual says so.
Photograph the hoses under every sink; replace any older than five years. They cost €8 each.

Electricity and appliances

Fridge and freezer: empty, defrosted, switched off, doors propped open.
Washing machine and dishwasher: run a hot empty cycle, leave the doors ajar, close their taps.
A lamp on a daily timer in the living room, set for winter dark at 18:00.
A dehumidifier on a humidistat set to 60% in the main room, draining to a sink if possible.

Air and light

Leave internal doors and wardrobes open.
Shutters: do not seal every one. Leave two on the sheltered side a hand's width open with the window locked.
Strip beds, store bedding in sealed bags with a moisture absorber.

Kitchen and food

No food at all, including dry goods and oil. Bins emptied, washed, inverted.
Bait stations in the kitchen cupboard and on the balcony.

Outside

Terrace drains cleared. Furniture covered or inside. Planters emptied; they hold water and mosquitoes.
Gas bottle closed and, if the apartment is on bottled gas, disconnected.

Paperwork

Insurance: check the unoccupancy clause (30 or 60 days is common) and tell the insurer in writing.
Post redirected or collected by someone.
Condomínio told who has keys and a number for emergencies.
Meter readings photographed on the day you close.

What I do for my own 15 units

I do all of the above once, in October. Then every unit gets a monthly visit anyway: taps run for two minutes, toilets flushed, dehumidifier bucket checked, letterbox emptied, shutters opened for an hour, readings logged. The visit catches the hose that failed in week three. A perfect shutdown does not.

The cost of the two approaches

	Perfect shutdown, no visits	Shutdown plus monthly visit
Time	One day in October	One day plus an hour a month
Typical spring repair	Mould repaint €1,500 to €3,000 every few years; one leak claim refused	Dehumidifier electricity, €10 a month
IMI exposure	Readings near zero, flagged as empty	Readings normal
Insurance	Unoccupancy clause often breached	Within clause

The short version

Shut it down properly and still have someone open it once a month. If you are not here to do that, it is the core of my property management service, and the free audit will tell you whether the apartment should be earning instead of sleeping.

Based on nine years of managing my own Algarve apartments through every winter. Legal thresholds from Decree-Law 159/2006. Last checked 2026-10-10.