After a long struggle, the association of Faro musicians (Associação Recreativa e Cultural de Músicos, or ARCM) has finally found a temporary base, thanks to the goodwill of the municipal authority which has offered it the town’s former beer factory.
The move means ARCM has at last agreed to leave its current premises by March 31 next year – leaving the way open to developers who have been trying to take possession for years in order to build a hotel.
Previously, the musicians had worried that they would be out on the streets – particularly after the owners of the building, on Rua General Gomes Freire, filed a lawsuit.
But at last consensus appears to have been reached, and the old beer factory is now being made ready for the musicians’ arrival next year.
Meantime, the ARCM has a plot of land in Horta do Ferragial, ceded by Faro council, which it hopes to use to eventually build a permanent home for its many bands and members.
