Sintra association joins chorus of protests emerging throughout Europe
Bit by bit every ‘well-worn touristic route’ is starting to see protests over the downsides of popularity.
Hot-on-the-heels of uproar in Spain, and discomfort in Greece, Portugal has seen the QSintra association of residents in the leaft Sintra hills say “Enough is Enough!”
Locals have for years been calling for solutions to the annual stampede of summer visitors who invariably making everyday life in the picturesque region an abject misery.
SIC television news last night interviewed one woman who claimed to get up everyday at 5am, just to be able to have a bit of peace and quiet in which to walk her dogs, and tend her garden, before the clamouring hordes descend.
The woman is just one of those now supporting association QSintra, which has launched an initiative this year to show exactly how locals feel.
Windows, balconies, restaurants and cafés are adorned with ‘protest messages’ challenging the borough council to finally do something.
Just as Porto starts to act on the mayhem of streams of tuk-tuks and tourist buses clogging up the historic centre, Sintra too is calling for action.
In a statement, QSintra “In Defence of a Unique Place” says it refuses to allow the town to become a “congested amusement park (…) in the face of the loss of quality of life, the constant traffic jams and the accelerated de-characterisation of this World Heritage area”, the association demands an end to mass tourism.
At the same time as its street protests, QSintra has released a manifesto – “Sintra belongs to everyone and needs everyone”, setting out what it believes the town needs: a revitalisation of the community and quality of life for residents; greater care and discretion in urban planning and management; quality tourism, not quantity; ways of combating ‘excessive dependence’ on tourism; recovering and preserving nature, stricter rules and supervision that preserve the landscape, the forest area and the coastline – and the creation of a specialised structure to manage Sintra’s Cultural Landscape.
QSintra points out that “tourism is important for Sintra, but it cannot be a factor in downgrading the landscape and depopulating the area” – and it cannot jeopardise the daily lives of the town’s inhabitants.
The association also calls for “a systematic survey of all major projects” for new hotels, property developments and shopping centres, in order to “assess their impact on the landscape, the ecosystem, mobility and people’s lives”.
Sintra “has all the conditions to become a cultural centre of great quality and worldwide projection in areas with potential, such as music, literature, cinema, the plastic arts, crafts and trades, gastronomy”, the association insists. In many ways it already is: there are frequent concerts and events put on in the area’s palaces – but there are just too many people, and too many cars and buses in the town and winding their way along the narrow roads.
The association launched its street protest and manifesto last weekend. Both have been overwhelmingly welcomed. Commentary over social media has been very supportive: “It is time to defend residents”, says one post. “Life is not all about business…”
Another refers to what the writer calls “a country heading towards institutional bankruptcy, as exemplified by the situation of health and security forces, now replicated in Sintra in the incompetence of traffic management and urban mobility, along with lack of attention (by authorities) to issues raised. Complaints by citizens have been made in many public assemblies, all to no avail, since, politically speaking, all parties with management responsibilities are ‘very comfortable thank you’. So, other measures have to be taken. Starting with this public display of posters! Bring it on…”
