The Committee of Users of the Via do Infante (CUVI) today announced that this summer it will repeat its protests at the PSD Festa do Pontal rally and at the vacation homes of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho in Manta Rota, and of President Cavaco Silva in Praia da Coelha, Albufeira.
In today’s statement, the committee emphasised that this is the third consecutive year that protests have been organised as close as possible to the houses where the Prime Minister and the President each spend their holidays, relaxing in the Algarve sunshine.
The August protests are to highlight the "consequences of the toll system in the Algarve" which has been in operation since October 2011 and far from the ‘user pays’ reasoning behind the tolls, the scheme costs the general taxpayer around €40 million a year in subsidies to the Spanish-owned concession holder as traffic volumes, not unsurprisingly, dropped when tolls were imposed.
The politicians already have been declared 'personae non grata’ yet continue to spend their holidays in the Algarve while steadfastly refusing to commission or issue a report on the damaging affects the tolls have had on the local economy and the EN 125 ‘alternative’ road.
A report was promised and, like so many promises made by Portugal’s leading politicians, was soon forgotten.
The committee will be at, or more likely, outside, the annual Festa do Pontal, the PSD rally which usually takes place in Quarteira and will aim to make as much noise as possible to interfere with the PM's keynote speech.
For July the committee is busying itself with a slow drive along the EN 125 on July 12th between Faro and Loulé, and will be participating in the closing parade of the Faro Bike Festival.
The commission also is sending a new petition to parliament for the immediate suspension of tolls on the Via do Infante.
The calendar of protests against the tolls in the Algarve scheduled for the summer period has been sent to the council mayors’ group and other regional bodies which are encouraged to join in.
