Annuls sale of land to Lusorecursos, ordering restitution to ‘community of common land’
A court in Vila Real has stymied lithium skullduggery in Montalegre, ordering Lusorecursos – a company that leapt onto the lithium bandwagon with a degree of baggage – to return land that it purchased incorrectly, and which is part of the local ‘community of common lands’.
It is the latest example of communities resorting to the courts to fend off lithium exploration in areas of outstanding agricultural heritage.
This latest case came out of Vila Real Central Civil Court, and involved a farming couple in their 60s, who sold a plot of land that they claimed to be theirs in Rebordelo to Lusorecursos, which promptly fenced it off and began exploratory work.
With the court’s ruling, the purchase has been rendered ‘ineffective’; the fences have to go; the machinery has to go; and Lusorecursos forfeits whatever money it spent as the land must be returned to its ‘rightful ownership’ – the local community of common lands – in the condition it was in before the improper purchase.
The farming couple has also been censured as “litigants of bad faith”, and ordered to pay a fine of €510.
Lusa has reported the facts as they are ‘today’. It may be that Lusorecursos ‘appeals the court’s decision’ – but whatever happens next, it does look like any work on the land will have to stop – which is exactly what opponents to this process want.
Lithium exploration has put communities ‘against authorities’ since the previous Socialist government opened a number of concession areas, principally in the north of the country.
In 2023, APA – the Portuguese environment agency – approved the Montalegre area project with a favourable environmental impact statement, in spite of enormous public kick-back.
“Lusorecursos proposes a mixed exploration, first in open air and then in tunnel, and the concession has a total area of 825.4 hectares covering areas of the localities of Morgade, Rebordelo and Carvalhais, in the municipality of Montalegre, district of Vila Real”, writes Lusa.
The project includes exploration and extraction waste disposal areas and a refinery, where raw ore will be processed.
Opponents warn of the environmental consequences of this activity – particularly on water lines and agriculture – and its impact on the Barroso World Agricultural Heritage area, which also includes the communities of Boticas, which are waging their own ‘war’ against lithium exploration by another company, Savannah Resources.
