As the decades old argument over who owns the city walls of Silves drags on, some sections already have started to collapse.
The council says it has some money to fix the worst affected areas but needs financial help to secure all the sections that have been left to crumble. Some parts have started to collapse and have had to be cordoned off.
The department in charge of funding such projects of national importance is of course the Ministry of Culture whose budget for the Algarve has just been cut in the 2016 State Budget.
Mayor Rosa Palma is concerned at the deterioration of her city walls, the west sector is at risk of collapsing first, and complains about the lack of financial support. She has set aside some maintenance money in the stretched council budget but this is not nearly enough to make a good job of the many sections that urgently need repairs.
The Regional Director of Culture, Alexandra Gonçalves, admitted that fixing the iconic city walls is a priority and he has applied for EU funds.
However, Gonçalves admits that there is no money to invest in Silves as the walls are not officially under the management of the ministry.
According to the municipal archaeologist Maria José Gonçalves, the management of Silves’ wall, a national monument since 2012, lacks definition, as for many years everyone thought it was owned by the State but there are several key documents that show it is more likely owned by the council.
A document found at the General Directorate of State Property, dated 1987 and based on a 1932 decree, states that the "Almedina Silves is in the possession and ownership of the Municipality of Silves."
The Regional Director of Culture at least this week has put in a request to the government to sort out who actually owns the walls but the problem remains and while custody discussions continue, more sections of wall are likely to collapse.
Another problem has been encountered by the specialist company commissioned by the council to survey the walls in order to prioritise repair works. Many sections are in people’s gardens and the engineers have no right of access.
"Some people have even landscaped the castle walls, which is obviously not good for the maintenance of their conservation status," observed the municipal archaeologist, noting that the last time the walls were fixed was back in the late 1990s.
The Regional Director of Culture has made the rather limp suggestion that the Silves Castle entrance ticket money should finance the work, as the site is “the second most visited in the region.”
If someone could sort out which public body owns and is responsible for the city walls, at least then there will be someone to blame when this priceless national treasure continues its inevitable collapse.
Picture: Região Sul
