The situation is not new and there seems to be no solution in sight: parking in the parish of Montenegro, which lives close to the airport of Faro, it's a nightmare. Residents and merchants “fight” with service providers from companies operating at the terminal, with rent-a-car companies and with transfer companies, for a place to leave their car.
The Parish Council of Montenegro, in April, expressed its concern about this problem, but since then, and with the arrival of summer and the increase in the number of airport users, little has changed.
Steven Piedade, president of the Parish Council of Montenegro, told the Sul Informação who spoke with Alberto Mota Borges, director of the Airport of Faro, asking "to create a park for service providers of companies that operate at the terminal, on land belonging to ANA that are unoccupied, charging a fee of 25 euros a month, but he didn't show much desire to do so."
The mayor defends a solution in which “service providers' workers pay one euro a day. I have already spoken to many of them and they currently pay around €60 a month. With the low wages that many have, they want to save as much as possible».
Ao Sul Informação, Alberto Mota Borges said that, «at this moment, we have a long-term park [costs 5 euros per day] and a park dedicated to staff, furthest from the car park in front of the terminal'.
According to the official, a new park “will only be evaluated if and when the search justifies the investment”.
With no major opening on the part of the Airport, Steven Piedade says that "we have been trying to create conditions to use all the land that there is to be occupied, so that residents can park there."
In addition, «we have been talking to the Municipality, we are going to try to mark the parking, order it, but, with that, we have increased five or six places. We are also going to do an improvement work, next to the old school, we are going to create 11 more parking lots, but these are small things, when the problem is so global».
Steven Piedade explains that "there are several problems" that complicate parking for Montenegrin residents. “When the parish grew, the legislation did not require parking to be included in the building. Then there is collateral damage from the Airport, at the parking level: there are tourists who do not want to pay and leave it in the public space, there are transfer companies and there are rent-a-car, for which there is legislation: they must have their own parking space and, within 24 hours, after receiving the car, the vehicle must park in that space».
But this also does not always happen and there are even reports of cars being delivered to customers who rent them, on public roads, in small companies based in Montenegro.
Steven Piedade says there is even a company of rent-a-car that, “on Google Maps, it is identified as having its seat in the public car park. I have already made this known to the GNR. The others have a place to put the vehicles, but there is so much rent-a-car small, about which we do not have information, with 20, 30 vehicles, which, with the new rate, fled the airport».
Armando Santana, president of ARA – Association of Companies of Rent-a-Car from the Algarve, says he has seen «photographs that illustrate the parking problems in Montenegro and there was no car that was from rent-a-car. Many of them are customers who have to pay exorbitant prices to park at the airport and employees of companies operating at the airport…».
However, he continues, «I do not mean by this that there are no momentary parking situations on public roads».
The representative of rent-a-car algarvias says that, in terms of the parking of vehicles of this type of companies on public roads, «there has been a very positive evolution, because companies are obliged to have parking. I can't say that everyone complies, there are always the good guys and the bad guys in these situations, but it's not the rent-a-car which constitute the main problem'.
Armando Santana considers that “there are several activities involved and with the notary's fault, the airport's parks are 1/3 occupied, then there are also transfer companies, headquartered in Montenegro, which also park. Reflection is needed”.
The problem of parking the vehicles of transfer companies is highlighted by Steven Piedade. “There is no legislation whatsoever for these companies, which may be occupying public space. Only one we have in Montenegro, the largest in the country, has around 400 vehicles operating throughout the Algarve. It's another problem we have there. It gives employment to some people, it is true, but it creates these constraints».
According to the mayor, the problem is not specific to a street, or to an area, and it spreads “to the entire surrounding area of the airport within a radius of 600 to 800 meters. Everywhere, it is used to leave vehicles, on the road to the beach, in Arabia, at roundabouts…».
Therefore, Steven Piedade says that he will appeal to the Minister of Internal Administration, “because there is a problem that the GNR does not have the means to monitor all these situations, the number is reduced. There has to be concerted action. It doesn't just go through the Parish Council, it has to be global, because the problem is enormous».
The problem is "huge" and the main victims are residents and merchants, who flood social networks with complaints about the lack of parking. And there are those who have already gone from words to deeds, because, says Steven Piedade, «I have already heard of some “echoes” of vandalism situations involving parked cars. There were vehicles vandalized in Vale das Almas, but, at the moment, I am not aware that these situations continue».
A source from the GNR District Command, who does not comment on the alleged lack of means to inspect improper parking, also confirms to our newspaper the version that, this year, «since January, there have been no complaints related to vandalized cars in the parish of Montenegro'.
O Sul Informação went to the street and found that there are cars parked – and blocked – in roundabouts, curbs or open spaces, in addition to public parking lots occupied by transfer companies. The problem is in plain sight, the solution is not yet.
Photography: Ana Madeira/Sul Informação.
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