Citizens have launched petition, signed by over 2,500, and called protest for this Wednesday evening
A group of concerned citizens is set to protest this Wednesday against ongoing construction of a beach restaurant and car park in the Foz do Almargem and Trafal Nature Reserve in Quarteira, Loulé.
The demonstrators demand the immediate end of works that they argue are damaging the wetland, which just last summer was officially granted protected status. The construction in question includes a restaurant, a beach support facility, and a car park, prompting local residents to launch a petition which has already been signed by over 2,500 people.
The petitioners also warn that there are plans to build a hotel on a separate plot in the wetland which were “never reevaluated in light of the reserve’s new status”.
The municipal council of Loulé, however, insists that all legal requirements have been met and that steps have been taken to minimise the environmental impact. According to a statement sent out to newsrooms on Tuesday, “less than 1%” of the protected area is affected by the project, and all necessary permits were secured before construction began.
Local citizens do not accept this explanation, however, and are calling for a reassessment of the construction projects’ licensing in light of the area’s new protected status, granted in August 2024. The protest is scheduled to take place at 8pm in front of the Quarteira local parish council (Centro Autárquico).
The Foz do Almargem and Trafal Nature Reserve was officially designated a protected area on August 14, 2024, after being recognised by the council as “one of the most important wetlands in the Algarve.”
The area is home to sensitive ecosystems and serves as a habitat for several protected species and plays a crucial role in water regulation and biodiversity conservation.
However, with the construction of the restaurant, beach support facility and car park moving forward, citizens lament that part of the wetland has been enclosed, with large-scale land movement taking place. Native vegetation has been destroyed while trees have been removed both within and beyond the development site, they warn.
In response, the council maintains that all urban planning regulations have been adhered to and that efforts were made to reduce the project’s environmental impact. The local government cited compliance with the Coastal Planning Program (POOC) for the Vilamoura-Vila Real de Santo António region, which allowed for the construction of the beach support facility – the only one in the municipality that had not yet been implemented.
Furthermore, the municipality stresses that the project received approval from key regulatory bodies, including the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), due to its proximity to Faro Airport, as well as conditional approval from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR).
To mitigate environmental damage, compensatory measures have been outlined, the council states. These include maintaining soil permeability in the parking area, planting 133 cork oak trees within the intervention zone, and introducing 3,000 shrubs across 12,464 square metres.
The council also insists that the plan for the area will help regulate the access of people by vehicles and on foot, will “eliminate situations of wildcamping” and will reduce wildfire risks.
The new owner and developer of the site where construction is taking place has also put in a request to replace the architectural plan for the project with one that is “aesthetically more attractive, more functionally efficient and which integrates into the territory less intrusively,” the council says, adding that this shows that the developer is also aware of the “need to preserve this protected area.”
However, this explanation has so far failed to convince local nature lovers, who are taking their fight to the doorstep of Quarteira’s local authority this evening.
