Local citizens are gearing up to march in protest this Saturday (April 19) against the construction of a beach restaurant at Trafal beach in a zone many believed was safe from development.
The protesters are calling for an immediate stop to what they describe as a “serious environmental attack” in the Foz do Almargem area, a natural haven recently classified as a local nature reserve.
Earlier this month, a petition was launched in an attempt to stop the project, arguing that the works are damaging an area that should be protected.
João Eduardo Martins, a university professor who is among those opposing the project, states that the works are being carried out “just a few metres from the sandy beach and with the indiscriminate felling of trees”, with the aggravating factor that it is “on an eroding cliff that is suffering the effects of rising sea water”, he claims.
Locals have also warned 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, is adamant that all legal requirements have been met and that steps have been taken to minimise the environmental impact. It insists that “less than 1%” of the protected area is affected by the project”, and all necessary permits were secured before construction began.
The explanation has failed to satisfy local nature lovers, who will march in protest against the project from the Centro Autárquico de Quarteira (local parish council) on Saturday at 4pm to the protected wetland.
