Motorhome drivers who have to leave the campsites and find themselves unable to return to their countries, due to the impossibility of crossing Spain, may be repatriated by plane, admitted Paulo Morgado, president of the Regional Health Administration of the Algarve.
After the Association of Camping Parks of Alentejo and Algarve (APCAA) made public warnings that the compulsory closure of campsites decreed by the Government could “challenge not only the containment regime of Covid 19, but also cause a problem humanitarian,” Paulo Morgado assured journalists today that “the authorities are already dealing with this problem as well”.
The solution, he said, should be to "find a place to store their vehicles, so that people can return to their country" by plane.
Yesterday, and following the approval, on March 20, of a decree-law that determined the “closure of camping and caravan parks, as well as campervan service areas, from 00:00 hours on the 22nd March 2020”, the association went public with warning that this decision would “take thousands of foreign motorhome and caravan drivers to Portuguese roads at once”.
This is without any guarantees “that they will be able to reach their countries of origin (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Italy, etc.)”.
On the other hand, the APCAA warned about “the age groups of these foreigners. A large majority are seniors, aged between 65 and 80 years old. Others are young couples with babies, who, under paternity leave from their countries of origin, can spend a year without exercising their professional activity».
In this case, the solution could be the idea put forward by Paulo Morgado today.
However, and although the mandatory termination is already in effect, an order of today from the office of the Secretary of State for Tourism came to regulate the decree-law of Friday and determined that «the organization of the orderly and peaceful departure of users of camping and caravan parks, as well as users of motorhome service areas, must be carried out within five working days' from today.
In other words, campers still have some time to organize themselves, opening up, at the same time, a time window to find a solution for these cases.
Another issue raised by representatives of the Alentejo and Algarve campsites is that of the “hundreds of retired foreigners who reside in their motorhome or residential caravan, buy them and install them in the campsites and have nowhere else to go”.
Today's order also clarifies that “users of camping and caravan parks who, at the time of the declaration of a state of emergency made by Decree of the President of the Republic No. 14 -A/2020, of March 18, reside in permanent title in these tourist establishments, they can remain in them to ensure that housing needs are met'.
Still, they will have to comply with what was stipulated when the State of Emergency was declared.
As for the association's claim that "all customers who want to stay in our country must be allowed to stay inside the campsites where they are located (if the campsite so deems it), provided that it complies with all current decreed regulations by the State of National Emergency”, the order does not foresee this situation.
Citing numbers from the CCDR of the Algarve, APCAA says that, in March, there are usually "over 100 motorhomes" in the Algarve region.
“This year they are less due to the outbreak, however, it appears that the vast majority of them do not stay overnight at campsites, but do wild camping or are in one of several dozen illegal motorhome stations that exist in the region where nothing is controlled. Are we prepared for such an exodus? We understand the efforts that we all have to make, but taking measures without any sensitivity could compromise the efforts that the national authorities and all Portuguese citizens are making to contain this calamity», concluded the association.
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