Installation of a video surveillance on Praia do Carvoeiro is one step closer
The Municipality of Lagoa and the National Republican Guard (GNR) have officially signed a protocol that will allow the installation of a video surveillance system, on Praia do Carvoeiro.
The initiative is "of extreme importance for the safety of the local population and the many visitors to the town", representing "a decisive step towards preventing and combating crime", say the authorities their statement.
Tthe video surveillance system will consist of cameras distributed in strategic areas, such as the main access roads and areas with the highest tourist traffic, "ensuring constant monitoring of public areas". The image monitoring center will be based at the GNR facilities, "allowing for a faster and more effective response in the event of incidents", says the statement.
The total cost of installing and maintaining this system will be borne entirely by the Municipality of Lagoa. However, the installation of the cameras can only go ahead after the GNR formalizes the request for authorization with the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI), and receives the respective approval, the document reads.
At the protocol signing ceremony, the GNR District Commander, Colonel Marco Henriques, highlighted the relevance of the partnership and the positive impact that video surveillance will have on crime prevention and community protection.
The Mayor of Lagoa, Luís Encarnação, also stressed the importance of the project for the safety of the population: "This is an important step towards ensuring the peace and well-being of those who live and visit Praia do Carvoeiro. Our commitment to safety is a priority and, with this video surveillance system, we are reinforcing our capacity to intervene and prevent potential illegal behaviour. Collaboration with the GNR is essential to this objective, and we hope for approval from the MAI, so that we can move forward with the installation of the system, as soon as possible."
Aljezur: body of the fisherman who disappeared on Saturday is found
The body of the fisherman who disappeared allegedly after falling into the sea while recreational fishing in Aljezur on Saturday, was found early this morning by a local on Bordeira beach.
Read previous article here: https://algarvedailynews.com/news/24297-aljezur-search-for-missing-fisherman-is-called-off
According to the captain of the Port of Lagos and commander of the local Maritime Police, the body of the 25 year old man was discovered around 8:00 am, by a member of the public on the beach.
The Maritime Police identified the body as that of the young fisherman who had been missing for five days, with the help of the victim's friends, who were in the area.
The body will be removed to the Portimão Forensic Medicine office to undergo an autopsy, to determine the cause of death, after the death is certified on site by the Health delegate.
The man is said to have fallen from a cliff into the sea on Saturday afternoon while recreational fishing in the northern part of Bordeira beach, in Aljezur, in the Algarve.
The alert for the disappearance was received by the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC Lisboa), at 2:40 pm.
The Maritime Police psychology office is providing support to the victim's family and friends, the National Maritime Authority said.
Algarve railway line closed after fatal accident in Olhão
The Algarve railway line was closed earlier this morning, after a railway accident at around 07:45am in Marim (Olhão), causing one fatality.
A source from the Algarve Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command said that the victim was crossing the railway line on foot when he was hit by the train, in the Marim area, in Olhão.
By 8:30 am, 18 members of the fire department, INEM, GNR and Infraestruturas de Portugal were on site, supported by seven vehicles.
The line runs across the Algarve, connecting the railway stations of Vila Real de Santo António and Lagos.
Municipalities are now responsible for their own local accommodation licensing
The Government has extended restrictions on local accommodation, which until now only applied to areas already overloaded with establishments, to now applying to areas where there is a risk of this situation occurring, also increasing the time for reassessment.
In the decree published yesterday in the Official Gazette, the Government amends Law No. 62/2018, adding “areas of sustainable growth” to the “containment areas” previously provided for.
Containment areas are those where there is already “an overload of accommodation establishments, which may justify restrictions on the installation of new ones”, while areas of sustainable growth are those that justify “special monitoring and follow-up measures, in order to prevent a situation of overload with undesirable effects for neighbourhoods and places”.
As it was previously, it is up to the territorially competent municipality to approve, by regulation, “the existence of containment areas and sustainable growth areas, by parish or union of parishes, in whole or in part, for the installation of new local accommodation”.
In containment areas, “new registrations of local accommodation establishments in urban buildings, autonomous units or parts of urban buildings capable of independent use, and which have been the subject of an urban lease contract for housing in the previous two years, cannot be authorised”.
Decree-Law No. 76/2024, also published this Wednesday, changes the legal regime for the operation of local accommodation establishments, granting municipalities “the legal tools to decide on matters of attribution, regulation, inspection and promotion of intervention processes in the units” used for that purpose. It states that that “factors such as housing and environmental pressure” in those areas may result in the imposition of limits.
The decree-law also establishes that both areas “must be reassessed at least every three years”, increasing the deadline established in the 2018 diploma by one year.
In municipalities with more than 1000 local accommodation establishments, “the municipal assembly must expressly deliberate, within a maximum period of 12 months from the date on which the municipality reaches 1000 registrations, whether to exercise the regulatory power” attributed.
The Government decrees that the creation of containment and sustainable growth areas must be justified “on the basis of a study that assesses, in particular, the concentration and impact of local accommodation in the different areas and territories of the municipality”.
New Alportel Dam to be created to provide flood protection
The public tender for the preparation of the Alportel Dam project was published on Friday. The projects aim is to guarantee flood protection for the city of Tavira, as well as provide irrigation and public water supply.
The project will involve an investment of around €350,000, and is expected to be completed within 9 months.
The project comes as a result of a protocol signed between the Portuguese Environment Agency and the Sotavento Irrigation Association, with the support of the Environmental Fund.
“A storage of around 10hm3 is expected, in an average year, in a scenario of reduced precipitation and this close to the Tavira WTP, which supplies treated water to the entire Sotavento region of the Algarve” and “4.5 kilometres from the central reservoir of Santo Estêvão, which also supplies agriculture”, said the Sotavento Irrigation Association.
Macário Correia, chairman of the Sotavento Irrigation Association said he expects to “have an updated project and environmental impact study during the second half of 2025”, after which “the execution project” will be carried out.
Tavira City Council has already expressed “great satisfaction” and has made itself available to “support, whenever necessary, the project and future construction” of the dam.
Algarve desalination plant contract to be signed today
The contract for the design, construction and operation of the future desalination plant in the Algarve, which should be built by the end of 2026, will be signed today in Albufeira in the presence of the Prime Minister, announced Águas do Algarve.
The contract award, which represents an investment of around 108 million euros, is part of the Algarve Regional Water Efficiency Plan, framed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
The project to build a desalination plant in the municipality of Albufeira is one of the measures in response to the drought affecting the southernmost region of mainland Portugal, as part of a package of measures launched by the previous Government.
The infrastructure will have an initial capacity of 16 million cubic metres (m3), but the company is designing it to have the capacity to treat up to three times more than that volume, that is, up to 24 million m3 of water.
The Algarve region has suffered, over the last few years, cycles of prolonged drought associated with a situation of water scarcity that is already considered structural, resulting in a decrease in the volumes of water stored in the various available sources.
The Portuguese-Spanish consortium of companies that will build the desalination plant will also be responsible for “operating the project for a period of three years” after the work is completed, according to Águas do Algarve.
Luís Montenegro is accompanied at the contract signing ceremony by Maria da Graça Carvalho, Minister of Environment and Energy, and by Manuel Castro Almeida, Deputy Minister for Territorial Cohesion.
The entrance to São Brás de Alportel is to be given a new lease of life
The southern entrance to São Brás de Alportel will be refurbished and given a new lease of life, involving the creation of a new leisure and social area and the restoration of the old Louro Cork Factory.
With a municipal investment of approximately €761,000 the work carried out by Martins Gago & Filhos, Lda. is expected to take approximately nine months.
In this first phase of the construction of the square adjacent to Rua João Rosa Beatriz, the Municipality intends to “safeguard and enhance the material and immaterial heritage associated with the Cork Factory, the central space of this intervention”.
The ongoing works also aim to “create new leisure and social areas for the community, a geriatric park and a children's park, as well as relocating the bus stop that will provide greater comfort and safety for users”, says the Municipality of São Brás de Alportel in a statement.
The project also includes “an intervention dedicated to the creation of green spaces, using mostly native and low-maintenance trees and plants, which aim to beautify the space with color, texture and shade”.
The new square will also have a support space to boost the local economy and support visitors.
Later, a second phase of the intervention will take place, which aims to “redesign the parking lot in the existing park in the block, with the aim of increasing the number of spaces available”.
Founded in 1890 by João Viegas Louro, the factory later became known as Fábrica Gualdino Louro, named after his son, and operated until the 1960s. It is currently one of the architectural elements in the town of São Brás de Alportel related to the cork industry, which enjoyed a period of prosperity in the municipality in the mid-19th century and contributed greatly to the development of the municipality.
Although it has suffered the ravages of time and its lack of use, the building still retains its aesthetic beauty, given by a set of three arches, the openings and the boiler flanked by the chimney. From the cork transformation system, there is still a well and a waterwheel, which once supplied the factory boiler through small channels.
