Cascais council is to repair and renovate the Fort of Santo António da Barra, the former holiday home of Portugal’s dictator, António Oliveira Salazar.The council and the Ministry of National Defence have signed a protocol to enable the council to "clean, energise and ensure the integrity" of the fort which Salazar used for his holidays and latterly has been used by the College of Odivelas.
The agreement does not allow the council to turn the building into a money making venture but does at least stop the degradation of the C17th fort.
The council signed an agreement with the government in 2015, to transfer the property to the municipality with a view to the council fixing up the fort and turning into a cultural centre that could earn money to pay for its upkeep. Three years later, nothing had happened.
According to a council notice, "substantive steps have been taken in recent months with a view to signing a new agreement" for a year, during which the municipality will be responsible for clearing plant growth, cleaning the building, securing it and maintaining it.
The contract also includes the "promotion of activities," the development of renovation projects and "renovation of the historic building."
After the term of the agreement is up, the council intends to carry out further activities in the property if an extension can be agreed.
"The more years the fort is in the care of Cascais City Council, the more years it will be used by the community and maintained in good condition," assured Carlos Carreiras, the local mayor whose ratepayers will be stumping up the estimated €6 million project cost.
The Santo António da Barra Fort, built during the Spanish occupation, played an important role in the Restoration of Independence (1640), and was an essential part of the maritime defence system for Lisbon.
During the Estado Novo, the fort was used by António Oliveira Salazar. A fall at the fort in August 1968, resulted in a blow to Salazar’s head, causing a hematoma which affected his ability to dictate.
Most sources maintain that the blow occurred when he fell from a chair at the fort. In February 2009 anonymous witnesses admitted that he had fallen in a bath, not from a chair. As he was expected to die shortly after his fall, President Américo Tomás replaced him with Marcelo Caetano.
Despite his injury, Salazar lived for a further two years. When he unexpectedly recovered lucidity, his inner circle did not inform him that he had been removed from power and allowed him to "rule" in privacy until his death in July 1970.
