Castro Marim, opposite Ayamonte on the Portuguese side of the border with Spain, is soon to take full advantage of the leisure opportunities available on the Guadiana river and is building a floating harbour to link the town to the river.
The €92,000 project is part of the new Cross-border Cooperation Programme between Portugal and Spain, the budget for which is funding 75% of the cost.
Castro Marim is a little way inland from the river and the aim is to build a facility that will attract tourism and create jobs related to an increasing traffic of those using the river.
The town’s larger neighbour to the south, Vila Real de Santo António, announced a tender last week to redevelop the river frontage with the same aims in mind and recent dredging of the river mouth was designed to allow larger craft to enter and use the river in safety.
The Mayor of Castro Marim, Francisco Amaral, said that the new floating quays put Castro Marim in touch with the river and the agreement with the Hydrographic Board for the Algarve involves construction of the quays just off the ecologically sensitive ‘sapal’ salt marshes to the east of the town in an area designated as a nature reserve.
The use of floating quays and appropriate infrastructure hopefully will ensure that the area remains largely undisturbed and with this in mind the local fishing association and nature organisations have been integral to the planning.
The floating dock should allow the development of all sorts of nautical activities including recreational fishing, canoeing, sailing etc and the project managers aim also to display and explain the importance of the local ecosystem while trying not to destroy it.
