The Minister of the Sea guaranteed this Wednesday, 26th of July, that there will be no decisions about the future of the Ports of Portimão and Faro "before October" and that everything also depends on the analysis that will be carried out by the various entities involved in the “Portos do Algarve” project.
“This is an issue that, as already announced, will have to be analyzed with AMAL and with all the Algarve's municipalities. We will have to face this whole area within the scope of the pilot project that is the Portos do Algarve. It will not be two months of elections that we will take a decision», said Ana Paula Vitorino, on the sidelines of a protocol signing session in Olhão.
In December, the minister came to the Algarve to announce the creation of a new structure, called Portos do Algarve, which will encompass all commercial ports, marinas and marinas in the region. The “shareholders” of this new entity are the 16 Algarve municipalities that make up AMAL – Algarve Intermunicipal Community, Docapesca and the Administration of the Ports of Sines and Algarve (APS).
The process, guaranteed at the time by Ana Paula Vitorino, is led by AMAL, which will "always have the presidency of this entity, whatever its legal nature."
In Portimão, there is already a consolidated project, linked to its Port of Cruises. «What is foreseen, unless there is a change defined by the region, is that, in relation to Portimão, a much greater focus will be given to the cruises. It will be a strong bet on the increase of cruises, more than tripling passengers, in the horizon until 2030», said the minister, in December.
To achieve this, “almost 20 million euros of investment are planned, all of which are public investment, about half coming from national sources [Porto de Sines] and the other half from community funds, which are also already guaranteed by Compete”.
Em Faro, «what is on the table is a proposal to transform the commercial port into a marina area, linked to recreational boating», said Ana Paula Vitorino at the time.
It was in this context that the FarFormosa proposal, presented jointly by the Center for Marine Sciences and the Chamber of Faro within the scope of a survey of ideas carried out by the installation commission of Portos do Algarve.
This plan envisages the creation of a space that combines scientific research, teaching and incubation spaces in the same space, with an associated aquarium, and a marina, hotels and an area for assisted living. But, as was made clear in a debate on this "vision" of the municipality and the Farenses research centre, it all depends on the assessment that is made..
As the Minister of the Sea revealed this Wednesday, "Docapesca is analyzing the process, like others, in Vila Real de Santo António and in other municipalities".
“There are issues that are unequivocal, others are not, they depend on the territorial planning and urban planning options of the municipalities”, concluded Ana Paula Vitorino.
Comments