The Algarve will face a strike by drivers of hazardous materials, in the middle of August, at a time of year when the number of people in the region triples due to tourism.
The 22 gas stations, available to the general public, included in the REPA (which, after all, are 21, but we are already there), deserved business reviews e of political parties, because they were considered insufficient.
However, João Fernandes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region, despite being "concerned and attentive" in relation to the strike, spoke to Sul Informação, says he is "comfortable with the definition advertised [by the Government], because, in my view, with what is made known, it guarantees that people, tourists or residents, will live a life without major constraints during the strike."
João Fernandes' main concern is related to the fulfillment of minimum services. The Government established that the REPA network will be supplied at 100% and the remaining service stations at 50%. In addition, ports and airports are also 100% guaranteed.
The president of RTA emphasizes that this was the only regional tourism entity involved in the definition of minimum services, which «gave us the opportunity to expose all the issues that we had diagnosed with the local partners», that is, the associations that represent the hotels and restaurants, travel agencies, transfers, rent-a-car and tourist entertainment companies.
According to João Fernandes, the proposals were “well accepted” by the Government, but now “there is a need for the minimum services to be fulfilled. It is one thing to establish the minimum services, another is the fulfillment of these minimum services».
If they are not complied with, "we were assured that there is a set of alternative measures for anomalous situations that may happen".
Regarding REPA, the official did not want to commit to an opinion on the possible need for more gas stations in the Algarve, integrated into this network.
«We spoke with the president of ANAREC [National Association of Fuel Resellers], who assured us that the Algarve will be able to overcome a possible strike without major constraints», he says.
João Fernandes recalls that, «despite the fact that REPA is a priority supply network, it does not mean that the remaining service stations are not available to citizens or companies. All refueling stations, as happened in the last strike, will be open and available, and, in fact, they were prepared in time to supply fuel to the population and companies». Even so, this Friday there were already filling stations that ran out of fuel.
In the Algarve, according to the last published list of stations integrated in REPA, there are 21 petrol stations that will be available to the public. One less than in the list that had been released at the end of July and which was the basis for an interactive map published in Sul Informação.
In addition to these 21 filling stations, there are four more for priority vehicles [see updated map below].
João Soares, delegate of the Portuguese Hotel Association in the Algarve, took measures at his hotel to guard against the strike, but he is very concerned.
“We have had the opportunity to share our concern with colleagues and association leaders and with some people in the RTA. We are holding internal meetings at the D. José hotel [in Quarteira] to try to minimize the impact on clients and the operation».
For João Soares, it is important to «communicate well. It is not saying that there will be a strike, but rather explaining how customers can get to the hotels, which filling stations are open, what to avoid, where to concentrate and what support can be provided».
Even because “people are thinking about whether they are going to keep the vacation, whether they are going to book or cancel it. People need to have security, and this is conveyed with objective information. There is a lot of information, but it is very dispersed».
Although the president of RTA has said that he heard the various partners in the tourism sector, João Soares believes that greater synergy would have been necessary to face the strike. “We know what's going on in our unit, but we don't know what the hotel next door is doing. It was important that this was caused by the RTA, which is the aggregator of all associations», he considers.
João Soares says that it would have been necessary to hold a «meeting with all the hotel units, transfer companies and rent-a-car companies, to listen to people and to solve problems together».
«I would dare to say that it was important to have a “crisis office”, which would bring together the various entities in the sector and which would send a circular to the hotels saying how transfers, rent-a-car, work, so that all service providers were articulated», he adds.
In the case of the Hotel D. José, in Quarteira, of which João Soares is the director and owner, «we've already guaranteed that we'll have diesel and gas for a week. We also contacted the laundry, who told us that there will be no problem. Even so, we are concerned about food and suppliers. We will stock several products, which are at the base of the operation, and we will try to keep the operation close to 100%. We also informed our employees to refuel their vehicles and, if possible, for those who live nearby, we suggest that they travel to work using other alternative means of transport, such as the bike path».
Those who are not thinking about using alternative transport are the tourists who arrive in the region with a reservation to rent a car. Rent-a-car companies face the strike with uncertainty, as Armando Santana, president of the ARA – Association of Rent a Car Companies of the Algarve, to Sul Informação.
«We couldn't prepare, even because we have practically all the cars rented. It all depends on how customers are going to return their cars to us. If you return cars with full deposits, we will deliver them full. If not, we cannot deliver. Also because only three or four multinational companies have their own fuel tanks. I believe that the whole situation will cause some stress», highlights.
Everything will depend, according to Armando Santana, on how the REPA stations work, but the rent-a-car representative is not very hopeful. “I think 21 or 22 posts would be enough for the normal population of the Algarve. But starting from that simple grocery store math, given that the population of the Algarve triples in August, at least there had to be 66 posts».
ARA tried “to raise awareness for this to be taken into account. But we are not just talking about fuel for vehicles. Hotel units are dependent on gas and so are hospitals. And that will make all the difference».
According to Armando Santana, next week, «there should be between 100 and 115 rented vehicles circulating in the Algarve» and all of them need gasoline or diesel.
“If things don't work as we were told they would, it's going to be a problem. Because no one is going to say to a customer: “Look, your car is here, but it's practically on reserve”. In this case, we cannot deliver the vehicle», concludes Armando Santana.
If there is no last-minute turnaround, the strike will start on Monday, August 12th, at 00:01. It is not known when it ends.
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