16 Algarve villages want to be considered Wonders of Portugal

Cachopo, in Tavira, and Estoi, in Faro, in the “Authentic Villages” category, or Carrapateira, in Aljezur, and Ferragudo, in Lagoa, for […]

Cachopo, in Tavira, and Estoi, in Faro, in the “Authentic Villages” category, or Carrapateira, in Aljezur, and Ferragudo, in Lagoa, for “Aldeias de Mar”, are four of the 16 Algarve villages that are candidates for the contest 7 Wonders of Portugal Villages. The contest will elect seven of these locations, in as many categories, as winners.

For the category “Villages-Monument” the Algarve has as candidates, in a universe of 78, Paderne, in Albufeira, the village of Vale de Boi, in Vila do Bispo, Estoi and Carrapateira.

As for “Aldeias de Mar”, in a total of 23 villages, Ferragudo and Carrapateira join the village of Salema, in Vila do Bispo, and Arrifana and Monte Clérigo, both in Aljezur.

On the other hand, in “Aldeias Ribeirinhas”, out of 60 competitors, the Algarve candidates are Alte, in Loulé, Guerreiros do Rio, in Alcoutim, and Odeleite, in Castro Marim.

Paderne, in Albufeira, Cachopo, in Tavira, Furnazinhas, in Castro Marim, and Vaqueiros, in Alcoutim, are the region's representatives in the “Rural Villages” category, which has a total of 90 candidates.

In the “Remote Villages” category, in a universe of 44, there is only one candidate from the Algarve: Cachopo.

In “Villages Authentic”, Estoi, Cachopo and Alte will compete with 76 other villages and, in the category “Villages in Protected Areas”, there are three Algarve representatives: Pedralva village, in Vila do Bispo, Bordeira, in Aljezur, and Cachopo.

Although, for example, Ferragudo is even a village, for the contest the definition of a village is not based only on "quantitative criteria", such as, for example, the number of voters, a factor that determines whether a place is a village, town or City.

Thus there is «a certain philosophy for the concept of village», whose definition, elaborated with the support of Professor Helena Freitas at the University of Coimbra, is presented in the regulation of the competition.

«The village is also a living place, a space of community, with a daily experience of work, sharing, territorial identity and collective memory».

The list of candidacies, which has a total of 332 villages, will now be voted on by the expert panel. This process is audited by the PwC, with the 49 pre-finalist villages going to public voting, in a list that will be revealed on the 7th of April, in Aldeia da Pena, in S. Pedro do Sul.

The panel of experts, with seven elements per region, begins voting this week and the choice will continue until March 31. The panel «has seats with figures of indisputable wisdom and local knowledge, historians, specialists in nature conservation, journalists and tourism specialists”, explains the organization of the competition.

Voting will be done secretly, choosing the best seven in each of the seven categories. After the expert vote, the results will also be validated by the scientific council.

This is a support body for the organization, whose mission is to defend the qualitative aspects of the competition and to break the tie, if called upon to do so. The scientific council is composed of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mission Unit for the Enhancement of the Interior and Tourism of Portugal.

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