Sir Cliff Richard decided against accepting the Keys to the City of Albufeira at a public ceremony held this week due to the current suspicion circulated by British police that he was involved in a sexual assault in 1985.
The pop star and long-term Algarve home owner was to have received the honour in a ceremony this Wednesday which went ahead to award other recipients with the city´s highest accolade.
Sir Cliff sent apologies to the town hall regretting his absence and Albufeira´s Mayor Carlos Silva e Sousa said that he had kept the award on ice until such time as Sir Cliff was in a position to accept it as the award had been agreed by the council, it just needed to be handed over.
Mayor Silva e Sousa said he was fully aware of the UK police action but said that Albufeira council is very proud of Sir Cliff Richard and that "he is a big man" and will get through this ordeal.
Officials said they had agreed with Sir Cliff's decision because his presence would have overshadowed the ceremony and attract unplanned media attention.
Sir Cliff has a long association with the Albufeira area having owned property in the Algarve region since 1961, latterly involving himself in his own Vida Nova wine brand, spending most summers relaxing at his home and testing the latest vintage with family and friends.
He has described the sex allegation as "completely false" and, despite being shocked and angry at the raid on his Berkshire home, said he would co-operate with the police investigation.
In the meantime Sir Cliff has postponed engagements that were planned for the near future and awaits the call from British police who are now under pressure to create a valid reason for their hasty actions.
Detectives in the UK have indicated that they will speak to Sir Cliff in the next few weeks but have failed to come with any satisfactory explanation as to why the raid on Sir Cliff´s home was undertaken in the full glare of BBC news reporting and publicity.
