From the frying pan, which Maria Antónia fills with different delicacies and new flavors, an inviting aroma is already released, making your mouth water.
Without haste, but with the efficiency of someone who has been running the kitchen of the Café Central do Ameixial for many years, the owner and cook of the establishment prepares the meal for a group of men who are working in the area, who are expected to walk through the door. all the time.
If this were not the case, the owner of the café and pasture house in this small and isolated village in the municipality of Loulé, would not have bothered to light the fire, use the large pots and wait for the clientele.
Unlike what will happen from tomorrow, Friday, the 22nd, until Monday, April 25th, it's not normal to see a lot of outsiders at Ameixial. But how Hiking Festival that will have its base in this village, the scenario is quite different.
The Ameixialenses are grateful, as this is a break in the routine of a town that has about a hundred inhabitants, most of whom live in the elderly home there. “We like these things to happen, to help our land here. And it's a joy to see the people there, it's always a conviviality. What we like is for people to come here», guarantees Dona Maria Antónia, excited.
“It always helps. We do the best we can. I only cook when ordered. But if they want a sandwich, I do too», he adds.
Maria Adelaide, who operates the cafe at the gas station, close by, confirms her neighbor's words. “It's good that so many people come, it makes a lot of difference. This is a small environment, with few people, it brings more movement to our land», he said.
The Ameixial is even located on the side of Estrada Nacional 2, which connects Portugal from one end to the other, from Faro to Chaves, but the highways and the highway robbed the village of what little transit traffic the village had.
To get an idea of the impact of the Hiking Festival, that proposes very varied activitiessuffice it to say that it attracts a number of visitors at least three times that of locals. This is reflected in the accommodation, but also in the businesses, which have an oxygen balloon here.
Andreia Martins is quietly sitting at Café Miguel, with no customers to serve at the moment. The owners of this establishment, a young couple, are both from Ameixial, but live in the city of Loulé, from where they travel, on weekdays, to the interior of the municipality. The fact that they have children makes it necessary, since, over there, the primary school has already ceased to function.
“A normal day here is calm (laughs). Our customers are essentially people here. But there are very few people, there are hardly any young people», said Andreia Martins.
As you can see, the animation brought by the Walking Festival of the Plum (WFA), as well as other annual festivities that take place in the village, contrasts with a day-to-day in which, when crossing the village streets, you see very few people. And if this is the scenario in the Parish headquarters, in the hills and places around it, desertification is even more felt.
“If you go there to a few hills, big hills, there are four or five old men there. Where I lived, there were three ladies and two men. And all of them with health problems», said Maria Alice, who, nowadays, gives occasional help to her sister-in-law and brother, the affable and conversational Mr. Fernando, at the Café Central.
Despite this, there are many tourists who visit Ameixial throughout the year, including motorhome drivers, who take advantage of the park there to spend long seasons and walk along the Serra do Caldeirão paths, which serve as an attraction for hundreds of people who will invade the village in the coming days.
Some of them knew this territory due to the Ameixial Walking Festival, as it is not uncommon for tourists to pass the festival and "come back later, to take routes they could not travel for the first time", illustrated João Ministro, whose company, ProActiveTur, is part of the WFA organizing committee and it takes more and more groups of tourists to the interior of the Algarve, throughout the year.
Motorhome drivers and hikers, Maria Antónia goes on to say, don't create a lot of parishes, nor much business. But he ends up admitting that they regularly go to the village “to buy bread or oranges”. "This year, many foreigners are there, but it's rare to have a meal here," he added.
Making known this territory, which, despite being desertified, has a lot to offer, is the main objective of the WFA. Hence, we try to involve local people in the process, so that they are the main beneficiaries of the event.
In addition, we are trying to leave seeds for the future so that one day, perhaps not too far away, Maria Antónia, Mr. Fernando, his sister-in-law Maria Alice and the couple Martins wake up every morning thinking about the day's menu. their establishments, knowing that, even without notice, someone will, of course, show up.
Click here to know the program of the Festival de Hiking/Walking Festival do Ameixial
Comments