The announced departure of the Rally de Portugal do Sul generated criticism from the main opposition parties, in Loulé and Faro, municipalities that jointly manage the Estádio do Algarve, which had been the basis of the competition. And, if in the Algarve capital the PS criticizes the right-wing coalition for lack of commitment, in Loulé the situation is reversed, with the Social Democrats accusing the PS executive of disinterest in the Rally.
For the time being, the only municipality that officially reacted to the main motoring event currently being held in Portugal to go to the North of the country was the Loulé municipality. In a press release, the Chamber considers the loss of the World Rallies event to be “significant for the Algarve, not only from a sporting point of view but above all for the region's economy, namely for the economic life cycle of many entrepreneurs linked to restaurants and to hotels and the like».
"It is, of course, also a loss for our Council, which was recognized by the President of the ACP, Carlos Barbosa, for the commitment and support given in the last edition, to the point of having mentioned that it was the best and most qualified collaboration ever" , added the municipality.
The PSD/Loulé has a very different view, which went public accusing the president of the municipality Vítor Aleixo of disinterest in the race. The Social Democrats listed, in a statement, a set of alleged attitudes by the mayor of Loulé that they consider revealing that the municipality played "an absentee role" in the effort to maintain the proof in the region.
The fact that he left the race presentation press conference earlier this year at the Nobre Hall of the City Council, the absence of the mayor from the official Rally dinner, with all national and international entities, «the ideal place for whether to “loby”” (the vice-president of the municipality Hugo Nunes represented the Chamber) and even not having been present at the awards ceremony, are examples given by the PSD/Loulé. For the opposition, the executive “sinned for the absence and lack of strategy”.
PSD/Loulé speaks of “absent role” of the autarchy, PS/Faro in "missing opportunities through their own fault"
Em Faro, despite the inversion of the roles of the two parties, as far as the executive and opposition are concerned, the criticisms of the socialists are not very different. In this case, the opposition speaks of “missing opportunities through their own fault”.
The PS/Faro guaranteed to have confirmed that «the Mayor of Faro and simultaneously from the Association of Municipalities Faro-Loulé, owner of the Algarve Stadium, did not submit a candidacy for the event [2015 edition] and never met with the ACP expressing, neither, such interest».
According to the Socialist Party councilors, at the meeting of the municipal executive on July 10, the chairman of the municipality and also chairman of the board of the Association of Municipalities Faro-Loulé Rogério Bacalhau clarified that "he will only have met with the President of the ACP this week, on his initiative, to make known the decision to lose the race."
Socialists assess this situation as being indicative of "lack of commitment and disinterest", namely those responsible for the Estádio Algarve.
The also socialist executive councilor from Loulé aligns with the speech of the president of the Algarve Tourism Region and does not give the proof as definitively lost, for the South. «Everyone can count on our effort to do everything so that this Automotive Event returns to our Region and to our Municipality already in its 2016 edition, striving for other races of the ACP automobile calendar, they will occur here», said the municipality.
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