CCDR Algarve president expresses concerns over delays
The tender for the construction of a bridge between Alcoutim in the Algarve and Sanlúcar de Guadiana in the Andalusian region of Spain is in a race against time to be launched before losing access to vital funding from Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (shortened in Portuguese to PRR).
José Apolinário, president of the regional development commission (CCDR Algarve), has warned that the tender for the construction of the bridge must be launched in the next three months to comply with the plan’s funding deadlines. However, there are still “three issues to overcome,” he told Lusa news agency.
The Spanish government and the Junta of Andalusia have yet to reach an understanding regarding the bridge’s access roads, which could involve expropriations, while the former authority also believes that an agreement between the two countries in the form of an international convention is necessary for the project to move forward. Lastly, Portugal is waiting for a reaction to the project’s Environmental Impact Study which it has already submitted to Spanish authorities.
“From our side, we have already taken all the necessary steps, but there is a stalemate between the Spanish government and the Junta of Andalusia, with whom we have been in contact, in addition to the fact that the bridge connects to a road that is the responsibility of the Diputación (provincial administration) of Huelva),” Apolinário said.
Portugal and Spain had already signed agreements for the construction of the bridge in 2022 at the 33rd Iberian Summit, but in December, Spain decided that a new agreement was necessary.
As Lusa points out, Portugal has set aside €9 million of PRR money for the Alcoutim-Sanlúcar de Guadiana bridge, having added another €4.4 million via the State Budget.
The deadline for the completion of the bridge is the end of 2025 or June 2026 at the latest. If these deadlines are to be respected, the tender for the construction works “must be launched in the next 60 to 90 days” to avoid the possible loss of PRR funding, Apolinário reiterated.
The bridge is considered a vital project for Alcoutim and the entire eastern Algarve inland region, having been described as a “dream come true” in 2021 when it was included in the PRR.
At the time, Alcoutim mayor Osvaldo Gonçalves said the bridge would be a way of “correcting the inequalities between the coastal and inland areas.” It would also help reduce the travelling distance between the two towns by 70kms.
