The fire that broke out to the north Monchique on 3 August destroyed precisely 27,635 hectares by August 11th, according to data released by the European Forest Fire Information System.
A few additional hectares can be added as re-ignitions damaged further forest areas but the Bombeiros have been adept at putting these out quickly.
The area destroyed in the great fire of 2003 in the counties of Monchique, Portimão, Aljezur and Lagos, was 41,000 hectares.
"This should never happen again," cried the politicians, promising 'structural intervention' and other nebulous phrases.
The 'Intersectoral Coordination Council of the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development,' met in Faro on Monday for a "first evaluation and follow-up of recovery interventions developed after the fire that affected Monchique, Portimão and Silves Council areas."
This council, chaired by Francisco Serra, is charged with 'promoting the technical coordination of the implementation of central government policies at the regional level.' Many now may wonder how that is going, now that they are aware of the council's existence.
A CCDR-A spokesman said that the council "recognised the effort and capacity of all civil protection agents to reduce risks and safeguard human lives during fire-fighting operations." This 'human life' phrase is the government’s fallback position if questioned about handcuffing locals who wanted to stay and protect their farms and homes.
The council also expressed its, "solidarity with all affected families and companies in the three municipalities affected by the fire," which is nice but I fear few of the men in suits sitting on this council have experience of rural life on a Monchique hillside so an expression of solidarity could be misconstrued by those it is aimed at.
This group of subservient public servants highlighted the "prompt intervention of the Government," in particular by António Costa, Prime Minister, for "determining the rapid assessment of damages and stimulating the ongoing intervention of public services in the areas of Agriculture and Forestry, Social Security and Housing, Economics and Tourism and Development and Cohesion,” missing ther irony that it was the lack of intervention of public services that led to the fire's uncontrollable spread through un-managed eucalyptus forests with insufficient fire breaks and poor or non-existent access roads.
This government-inspired intervention allowed, according to the CCDR-A's view on things, "a rapid action in minimising negative impacts on families and local institutions and in restoring the productive potential of the business fabric, in close coordination with local authorities."
At the meeting, Francisco Serra, president of the CCDR-Algarve, stressed the "high spirit of solidarity readily expressed by AMAL, the mayors group, the Municipal Civil Protection Services and civil society in the Algarve, providing and sharing resources to face the complexity of an occurrence of this dimension, organising the response and articulating wills to mitigate the suffering of families and limit the damage." Quite.
The self-serving platitudes continued without any practical help offered or criticism of a government that apparently can do no wrong as its actions minimised 'negative impacts.'
Francisco Serra also pointed out people who had actually been doing useful work after the fire, such as EDP and the phone companies who have restored services.
As for politics, the Algarve Federation of the Socialist Party accused José Chaparro, a PSD Monchique councillor, of bitching about the firefighting management.
The leader of the Algarve’s socialist party, Luis Graça, followed the government’s ‘nobody was killed’ mantra and was full of praise for, "the Government's prompt operational priority for the fire of Monchique, the mobilisation of human and material resources, including air resources, but above all the determination and total availability of firefighters, GNR and other civil protection agents, as well as the resilience of the populations, which had the goal of saving lives despite the size of the burned area - no victims were registered."
In statements made to the media, José Chaparro had the temerity to criticise civil protection decisions in the fight against the flames, saying that the firefighting coordination and management should have been in the hands of local fire services and accused the GNR of having taken people forcibly from their homes, which they did.
Not to be outdone on the political stage, the lady Mayoress of Portimão, issued a statement to the press, offering thanks for the attitude demonstrated by her people in their response to the victims of the Monchique fire. Portimão Council provided equipment and firefighting teams, and additionally was notable for taking in many of the evacuees from Monchique.
View from Messines- ©Dan Birch 2018
Isilda Gomes praised, thanked and commended her own Civil Protection Service team and all the leaders, technicians and assistants of the various units of the Council that joined forces with the Regional Health Administration, the University Hospital Center of the Algarve, Social Security, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Portimão, Portimão Tourism Association, Algarve Tourist Region, local hotels, several private companies and others institutions of the Municipal Social Emergency Network in particular: Caritas, Portuguese Red Cross delegation of Portimão, EMARP, ADRA (the Adventist Development and Relief Agency) and CRACEP (Cooperative for Reeducation and Support to Exceptional Children of Portimão).
Then there were the Parish Councils, Escola Judice Fialho and Cáritas which coordinated the preparation and distribution of 30,480 meals to the field operatives and 1,800 to logistics support staff.
The animal welfare people got a mention too ADAP and the Association of Friends of the Kennel of Portimão, many anonymous volunteers, private companies and veterinary clinics that have been giving assistance to the animals for free.
Well done to all.
In Lisbon, CDS-PP MPs adopted a fruitless line of questioning of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Nuno Magalhães, João Gonçalves Pereira, Pedro Mota Soares, Filipe Anacoreta Correia and Hélder Amaral all wanted to know how many trips to Portugal have been canceled by British tourists, following the eminently sensible advice from the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office, that holidaymakers should avoid areas of the Algarve that are on fire.
The MPs also wanted to know what the government is doing to “ensure the safety and serenity of tourists, given the warning issued by the British authorities because of the fires.”
Although the CDS-PP said it "understands the difficulties" faced by the Portuguese authorities in accurately assessing the negative effects of the FCO communiqué and in countering them in a timely manner, the MPs expressed their concern about the alarm it may have caused among the British and the damage done to Portugal's credibility in the UK, one of the main tourism markets for the country.
By droning on about the FCO statement, the MPs make themselves look very silly indeed and will get nowhere near embarrassing the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which was their objective.
While these well-paid and well-provisioned public servants fight for column inches, Monchique’s population is coming to terms with the collective loss they have suffered, the shock and fear they experienced and the grim, ash-coloured future they face.
Hardy, self-sufficient locals know full well that the politicians’ posturing and departmental promises does not get food on the table nor a new roof over their heads.
With farm equipment burned out, buildings destroyed, homes obliterated, trees gone and animals dead - the politicians take over to say everything is OK, help is on its way, we understand you pain and should "work together to ensure this never happens again."
On the plus side, a grateful local population cheered and clapped as the firefighters withdrew in convoy from Silves on Saturday evening.
Shouts of “Obrigado!” echoed down the streets as the fire engines went by. This recognition of effort has torn across social media.
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