A part of the Roman metropolis of Balsa, which once existed near the Luz de Tavira area, may come to know the light of day, through archaeological excavations, paid for by the Spanish company that intended to install red fruit greenhouses in that location.
The work for the installation of the greenhouses, which began in September, at Quinta da Torre de Aires – which will represent about 1/3 of what would have been the Roman city -, triggered a complaint that led to the embargo of the work by CCDR Algarve and the Management Regional de Cultura, since the area of the farm is part of the National Ecological Reserve, it has the status of Special Archaeological Protection Zone, since April 2011, and three sites classified as buildings of public interest due to physical evidence of the city of Balsa .
The investment promoters had authorization for the project from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), on which Ria Formosa depends, but not from those two entities that, when they became aware of the work in progress, blocked the work.
Alexandra Gonçalves, regional director of Culture, explained to Sul Informação that, at this moment, «the work is jointly embargoed by the CCDR and the Regional Directorate of Culture. We had already notified the owner of that land, where there will have been a Balsa. But there is also REN and the tenant should have gone to the CCDR to ask for authorization, but he did not do it».
The regional director of Culture added that "after we received the complaint, I contacted all the responsible entities, and apart from the ICNF, which gave the guarantee, the company had no opinion from the other entities."
Now, “that area will be subject to an archaeological assessment, paid for by the tenant, which will help us to know the damage that may have been caused by the work. The tenant will contract the archaeological services, there is that availability on his part, and the excavations will be planned with us».
What can be found in the archaeological excavations is unknown, because it is not known what damage caused to the remains over several years.
«Irrigation ditches, earthworks, stakes have already been made, this is what we detected…», reveals Alexandra Gonçalves, who recalls that «the intention to implement a project to improve the land there is old, but there has never been an agreement. We don't know very well what has been done there over the years».
The regional director of Culture adds that “there is an identified area that will have greater destruction, on the northern side of the farm, where earthworks took place. There are doubts that there is much recoverable material there. But there is a more concrete area, to the south, that needs another type of in-depth archaeological exploration».
The embargo on this work was an evil that ended up coming for good, since, for Alexandra Gonçalves, “it is good to know the territory well, to reduce the destruction. We need to develop an archaeological work project that will allow us, in an extended period, to know more about Balsa. And it allows you to reveal an important heritage and preserve it and assess whether there is any fantasy that has been created about that area. It is a process with more than 40 years, which began in the late 70s, and it is a “novel” that now has this outcome. From the investigation already carried out, it appears that 1/3 of the city of Balsa coincides with the area of the farm, but it would be much larger», explains the responsible.
About what could happen, if the presence of relevant archaeological finds in that place, which is private property, is confirmed, Alexandra Gonçalves says that «it is too early to say what will happen, what matters here is to value the heritage».
CCDR embargoed work due to "unauthorized actions" at REN and wants "immediate removal" of the structures placed
In clarification sent to the Sul Informação by CCDR Algarve, the entity explains that the earthworks and installation of greenhouses for the cultivation of red fruits were embargoed due to «unauthorized or recognized actions of public interest» and incompatible with «the legal regime of the National Ecological Reserve (REN ) in the “lagunar system protection strip” typology».
The embargo was determined, according to that entity, on October 30, "in an area of approximately 14,8 hectares", where it was intended to install the greenhouses and, in addition to the administrative infraction process, the "immediate removal of all structures in the meantime placed on the ground».
The CCDR also points out that these "sanctioning measures" refer exclusively to REN's legal regime, that is, independent of other "legal regimes applicable to the site, such as that relating to the protection of immovable cultural property", which is under the responsibility of the Regional Directorate of Culture.
«City of Balsa must be untouchable» for Jorge Botelho
The mayor of Tavira agrees that the city of Balsa should be the target of archaeological excavations. In conversation with the Sul Informação, Jorge Botelho considered that «the city of Balsa must be untouchable and absolutely preserved».
The mayor, even before the embargo on the work, admitted to our newspaper that "we don't have the money to carry out archaeological excavations with the dimension of power to bring to light the entire city of Balsa", but that it "has to be preserved until to the day that large investments are made, for that to happen».
Help for this purpose can now be given by the same company that threatened to destroy some more of what was once one of the great Roman cities in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.
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