University campus in Portimão expected to reduce unequal access to higher education in the Algarve
Plans to build a University of the Algarve (UAlg) campus in Portimão are moving forward after the local council officially offered a 30-hectare plot at Barranco do Rodrigo to the university, along with a €360,000 project design, aiming for completion by 2028.
The Barranco do Rodrigo area will not only house the university campus but also feature an urban park, a childcare facility with an attached senior living centre, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
“This is the happiest moment for our city since I’ve been mayor,” Portimão mayor Álvaro Bila said at the protocol-signing ceremony, held on Tuesday (January 21) at the Al-Faghar building.
Quickness is considered vital to benefit from community funding, which will come via the Algarve 2030 program. “We’re starting now,” Bila told journalists, adding that a detailed plan is in the works to pave the way for the new campus and that the project is being supported by the regional development commission (CCDR Algarve) to ensure all the correct procedures are being followed.
The new campus is set to significantly bolster higher education in the western Algarve, which UAlg Rector Paulo Águas admitted has lagged behind. Despite having a campus in Portimão for 32 years, current facilities are limited to 400 students and offer only a small selection of programs.
“We’re not serving the entire Algarve equally,” UAlg rector Paulo Águas said.
While acknowledging that geographic centralisation (in this case around Faro) is necessary, Águas pointed out its consequences: students from more distant boroughs such as Lagos, Silves, and Lagoa often face significantly more difficult barriers to accessing higher education. The new campus is expected to tackle this, providing a much closer higher education option for students in the western Algarve.
Focus on technology
While it is still too early to detail which courses will be available at the future campus, the rector revealed that it will focus largely on the areas of digital technology, including data and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Our plan is to focus on technology in a broad sense, without excluding any facet of it,” said Águas.
Courses currently offered at the existing Portimão campus will be maintained, while a new range of higher education professional courses will be offered.
Research is set to play a key role in the day-to-day life of the campus, which has already partnered with the Algarve International Circuit – home to the Celerator Technology Park, a €7.2 million project. “We’ll take it one step at a time,” said the rector, adding that it took nearly 20 years since the opening of the university to launch its own research initiatives. In Portimão, however, the wait is expected to be significantly shorter.
Initial projections estimate the campus will welcome 1,500 students in the first three years, with potential for further expansion if interest proves sufficient.
“I have no doubts that reaching the 1,500-student milestone will have a very important impact on the town, not just economically but socially and culturally,” Águas said.
Funding still needed
The construction of the campus is due to cost €15 million, but the total funding required has yet to be secured.
While some funding has been secured through the Algarve 2030 program, which offers €10 million with a 60% co-financing rate, this still leaves a considerable shortfall of €5 million.
To bridge this gap, the rector says the financing plan involves contributions from multiple sources, with Portimão council due to cover €7–8 million, primarily through local funds. If needed, the university is prepared to allocate some of its own financial reserves, which Águas noted are currently stable. UAlg and Portimão council are also hopeful that the central government will provide additional financial support.
If the university fails to meet its obligations, the land will revert to the municipality, although the rector guaranteed that “this surely will not happen.”
New life for Barranco do Rodrigo
The campus is part of a grander vision for the Barranco do Rodrigo area, which spans 37 hectares and was for decades an ‘open-air market’ for drug dealing. In addition to the university, the municipality plans to develop a central Olympic pool, a childcare and senior care facility, and Portimão’s largest urban park.
These additional plans are being developed by the municipal council and will require bids for funding to be carried out, mayor Bila said.
