The history of the Quinta da Ombria tourist complex is a story of perseverance, whatever the angle from which the issue is approached. Perseverance of investors, who designed a large tourist complex "styled" from the coast to the interior of the Algarve and waited nearly 30 years to lay the first stone, and perseverance of environmental associations and civil society itself, who saw in this project a threat and , even though they were unable to stop it, they forced their promoters to make concessions.
The foundation stone of the future Quinta da Ombria development, which will have a five-star hotel under the Viceroy brand (the first in Europe), luxury apartments, an 18-hole golf course and various support structures, will be launched tomorrow, August 25th. The opening is scheduled for 2019.
And if, in a tourist region like the Algarve, the birth of a new hotel complex can be seen as something natural, in this case the process was anything but peaceful. Controversial is the word that best describes the history of Quinta da Ombria, a 153-hectare plot located in the Morgado da Tôr area, between Querença and Tôr, half-walled with the Local Protected Landscape of Fonte da Benémola and located on the Querença aquifer -Silves, the largest water reserve in the region.
From the side of the project's promoters, the main argument in favor of building the complex was, from the beginning, the alleged economic development of this area of the Algarve, a short distance from Serra do Caldeirão.
To build the Quinta da Ombria development, 260 million euros will be spent, XNUMX million of which will already be in the first phase of the project (which will start tomorrow). This, according to the promoters, leads to job creation and dynamics for the local economy as soon as construction begins. Jobs and dynamics that will continue, they argue, after the complex is opened.
By those who have opposed the construction of Quinta da Ombria for three decades, the complex is immediately seen as a huge environmental threat.
The main problem pointed out was the construction of a golf course on the main natural aquifer in the region, but also the construction load and the very nature and dimension of the tourist complex were criticized. The League for the Protection of Nature and Almargem has always been at the forefront of the contest.
And if, in some cases, time helps to forget, in this case, the contest has not faded. The association Almargem went public this Thursday to state that "the Natura 2000 Network is in mourning" for the laying "of the first tombstone" in Quinta da Ombria, recalling that it was through its initiative that "for the first time, a public session of discussion of the project”, in 2003.
«In this highly attended meeting, held at the Casa do Povo in Querença, the then president of the Algarve Tourism Region, Hélder Martins, son of the land and future director-general of Quinta da Ombria, demanded that Almargem publicly apologize for its opposition to the project, suggesting that, if it did not, its directors would be considered persona non grata in Querença,” recalled the Algarve environmental association.
«As Almargem has mentioned several times, Quinta da Ombria will have a significant impact on the region's water resources, not only in terms of underground aquifers, but also due to the greater use of water from the Ribeira de Algibre and its consequences on the availability of water for agricultural purposes further downstream'.
On the other hand, stresses the association, “it seems evident that a large part of this area will become, for years, an authentic unfinished urban skeleton, as has already happened in other places (eg in Garrão), without financial guarantees being given that the process can be reversed if something goes wrong”.
Another aspect that Almargem fears is that, «in practice, Fonte Benémola will become a leisure park available to future users of the luxury hotels and villas of Quinta da Ombria, including any negative interventions within the protected area, such as the that have already happened in the relatively recent past».
The environmental association also defended that the promoters should present “a real action program, explaining the project's concrete contribution to the enhancement of the economy and quality of life in the region where it operates, to the enhancement of cultural and environmental heritage, the identity of the territory, knowledge and local products».
Those responsible for the project for Quinta da Ombria guarantee that they will build a tourist development “completely integrated into the surrounding landscape”.
Strong arguments, from both sides, which also generated a deep division, which, in the end, involved the discussion, still active today, about what development model is intended for the Algarve, especially for its interior. Environmentalists have always defended that Quinta da Ombria represents the repetition, in the interior, of the mistakes made on the coast.
To the presentation of an urban planning project and to the licensing requests from the original Finnish investors, the environmental associations responded with strong opposition, which, in the case of the League for Nature Protection, materialized in a complaint to the European Commission.
Brussels' final decision to shelve the case and not pursue the case was taken in 2011, but not without the European Commission receiving from the project promoters «the necessary guarantees, in the light of community law, for the implementation of Quinta da Ombria, despite the ecological sensitivity of the site chosen for its construction».
Among the guarantees received were some "with a view to ensuring the protection of the aquifer", including the "alteration of the layout of the golf course" and the presentation "of a management plan for fertilizers, fertilizers and phytopharmaceuticals", as he explained, at the time, the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission.
The main justification given by the European authorities for not pursuing the complaint was the existence of an Environmental Compliance Report (RECAPE), issued by the Portuguese authorities, which gave the project the green light.
From here, Quinta da Ombria seemed to have all the conditions to move forward, but this will only happen almost six years later and after the purchase of the land and project, in 2014, by the North Americans from Viceroy Hotels & Resorts, who transformed the project original, in order to make it “greener” and integrated with the landscape. O building permit was obtained the following year, 2015.
The complex is now advancing as a result of an investment by the Points Group, a Finnish fund of private equity, with the laying of the first stone to be accompanied by two members of the Government, the Secretary of State for Tourism (Ana Mendes Godinho) and also the Secretaries of State for the Environment and Forests and Local Development (Miguel Freitas).
In the first phase, a five-star hotel with 76 rooms, 65 tourist residences, an astronomical observatory and various support facilities will be built, with promoters investing around 100 million euros. In the next two phases, apartments, townhouses and villas for sale, a conference centre, sports facilities and catering facilities will be built. The golf course, however, is already there.
Once the progress of this project has been completed, Almargem now hopes that other similar initiatives are on the way.
«Associação Almargem makes an appeal to the Municipality of Loulé and to the members of the Government who will be present, so that they take the opportunity to declare their definitive opposition to the Vale do Freixo project, taking into account the imperative need to preserve the values of the Rede Natura 2000 site in Barrocal and the Rocha da Pena protected area”, he concluded.
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