Faro council has approved a motion to restore the six parishes in the municipal area that were closed by Passos Coelho's reorganisation of local government.
Juntas de Freguesia in Faro Sé, São Pedro, Montenegro, Conceição, Estoi e Santa Bárbara de Nexe now may all be reopened after the municipal assembly approved the motion with 28 votes in favor (PCP, PS, PSD, CFC and CDS) and three abstentions (BE and CDS).
On 13 April 2012, the national parliament approved a bill that led to the extinction of hundreds of parish councils, which in Faro led to the creation of the União de Freguesias de Conceição e Estoi and the União de Freguesias da Sé e de São Pedro.
"Two years since the implementation of the new parish map, it is undeniable that the union of parishes diminished responsiveness to solving the problems that affect the population, distanced democracy and damaged human and financial resources" read the CDU’s motion.
In the same session, the Faro assembly approved a CDU motion to "recognise the social, economic and cultural value of the urban areas of the Ria Formosa islands and end the demolition of housing."
This approval included positive votes from the CDU, PS, BE and CFC, while members of the PSD and CDS abstained. The mayor, Rogério Bacalhau, is PSD.
The proposal read that "in the name of respect for the local populations and their heritage", that public investment is channeled towards improving the barrier islands with a coherent approach and demanding the end of housing demolitions."
Faro is ahead of government by interpreting policy and taking pre-emptive action.
"At this point we are making an assessment in partnership with the National Association of Parishes and after this evaluation we will come to some conclusions," commented the Secretary of State for Local Government, Carlos Miguel.
The administrative reorganisation of parishes in 2013 led to a reduction from 4,259 to 1,165 in a move to cut costs. The downside has been a disconnection between locals and local government and mayors may be keen to re-establish Juntas de Freguesia to win votes in the September or October 2017 local elections.
