The President of the Republic of Portugal, no less, is to visit the settlement of Hangares on the Ria Formosa island of Culatra.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (pictured left) has agreed to visit the cluster of houses to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the creation of the settlement that recently has been one of the focal points of the State's demolition programme for Ria formosa island properties.
Algarve icon, protest leader and all-around good guy, José Lezinho, the president of the Association of Residents of Hangares, said that the VIP guest, now "only needs to set the date as, despite the creation of the settlement on August 15, that day won’t be much good as it will be very busy on the island. "
According to national newspaper, Correia da Manhã, a monument or plaque will be unveiled by Rebelo de Sousa to mark the centenary of the settlement.
At the end of WWI the construction of a Naval Aviation Centre commenced on the Island in order to operate seaplanes on anti-submarine patrols.
Although partially constructed and used for the war activities, the centre was never officially activated and its facilities later were used as a support base for a naval firing range.
The name ‘Hangares’ comes from the adoption of the word ‘hangers’ - as in, large buildings in which to store military equipment. Simple houses were built to house workers looking after the equipment and later, those using the Ria Formosa area to work as fishermen and shellfishermen moved to the settlement which benefitted from water tanks and a jetty.
Hangares has been one of the three key settlements fought over during the SOS Ria Formosa campaign which has managed to save hundreds of properties that were threatened with demolition by the State.
