A project to build a retail centre in Alcantarilha was unveiled last week and is already being slammed by the region’s retailers who call it an “economic mistake” that will actually do more harm than good.
The project, entitled ‘Conjunto Comercial Quintas do Rogel’, is being developed by Alroge SA and encompasses six blocks of 36 shops surrounding a main square.
The 16,681sqm shopping complex would also feature a supermarket, 522 outdoor and 113 covered parking spots and create around 500 jobs, according to developers.
Access to the retail centre would be made via a 200-metre link road that would connect it to the Alcantarilha roundabout, where both the EN125 and A22 motorway come together. There are also plans to build a link between Armação de Pêra and the roundabout, though this is under scrutiny by Infraestruturas de Portugal.
The company says that the new complex would take around a year to build. The project is currently being evaluated for its environmental impact while a public consultation period is ongoing until May 11. The project can be found on CCDR Algarve’s website (click here).
ACRAL, the Algarve retailers’ association, has already criticised the project.
“Yet another shopping centre that won’t add anything to what the Algarve already has. In fact, it is counterproductive,” said Álvaro Viegas, president of ACRAL, adding that the opening of the retail complex will “actually contribute to the desertification and urban degradation of Algarve towns”.
“What we need to do is revive our town centres, because that is how we showcase our heritage, our culture and our style of living – the kind of experience that tourists expect and want,” Viegas said.
The ACRAL president added that the project is also bad from an economic point of view as it “ignores the state of the market” – “There is not any room left in the Algarve’s shopping centre market. It is saturated.”
The Algarve recently welcomed an IKEA shopping complex in Loulé. Other large-scale shopping centres include Aqua in Portimão, AlgarveShopping in Guia, Forum Algarve in Faro and the Tavira Gran Plaza.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
