Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 7th February 2024
– by Mike Evans
Good day to you all and welcome to the first Algarve Report of 2024. If you wondered where we have been since last year, the writer was taking a visit to the UK over Christmas followed by a three week stay in Thailand. Visiting a tourist island in Asia was much like we in the Algarve experience during the peak summer season. The roads are busy with tourists and the beaches and restaurants are jammed with sunseekers and hungry visitors. Nothing much to report differently then! One thing that was very different is the water situation. Thailand has no issues with water in fact there is so much of it it runs off the hills into the roads and in many places makes driving conditions difficult which is in part one of the reasons that there are so many road traffic incidents.
So to our own region, The Commission for Hydro Agricultural Sustainability of the Algarve warned the water cuts planned for Algarve agriculture threaten the production of 95,000 tons of fruit and losses of 130 million euros in business in 2025.The restrictions imposed on water consumption to save water due to the drought affecting the region could also put around 1,000 jobs at risk, in the production of avocados and red fruits alone, warned the recently created commission, which groups 120 producers, farmers and irrigation associations in the Algarve.
“The cuts in water supply in the Algarve announced by the Government could lead to a drop in the production of 88,000 tons of oranges, 6,500 tons of avocados, 850 tons of red fruits, around a million bottles of wine and all ornamental production, within a year”, he quantified.
According to the same source, the economy of these sectors could lose 134 million euros in 2025, in addition to the impacts that will also be felt on production in 2024, such as a 16% decrease in citrus production made up of smaller fruits with less juice.
The commission estimated that 1,000 jobs are at stake in the production of avocados and red fruits, as well as a 60% drop in wine production, but classified as the “most serious scenario” that of ornamental flowers, which could have “a total collapse of the sector in 2025”.
While the water issue is still with us and as we wait for more rain there is now a protest group against the latest solution that has been touted by the authorities, the desalination plant. This time it is a group of immigrants in the area around where the plant is due to be built that have presented a paper showing in their view that this is not the answer to the region’s water problems. They have threatened to take their case to the EU if they are not given a chance to have their ideals aired. We will see what comes of this latest twist in the water debate. One of the groups main issues is with the amount of water wasted by the utility companies each year. It is estimated that nearly 30% of water is lost through leakage.
Duarte Cordeiro, Minister for Environment announced the restrictions on water consumption in the Algarve after a meeting of the committee that monitors the effects of the drought and stated, at the time, that, “if nothing was done regarding the moderation of consumption, it would be the end of the year no water for public supply” in the Algarve.
Here are a few of the many stories that have been happening in the past few weeks.
Algarve water cuts and price rises for biggest users
Water tariffs will rise in the Algarve for those who do not save on consumption according to the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve. A press release stated “It is urgent and absolutely necessary to save water in the Algarve and the change in tariffs is part of a set of measures, already announced by the Government, to reduce water consumption by 15%, given the serious drought problem in the region. Restricting consumption to what is strictly essential is the objective of this measure”.
The changes were decided at a meeting held at the Algarve Intermunicipal Community, and are based on the proposal from the Water and Waste Services Regulatory Entity (ERSAR).
The increases leave out the first tier, in the second the increase will be 15%, in the third 30% and in the fourth tier it reaches 50%.
The tiers are not the same in all municipalities, but, in general, consumption is distributed as follows: First tier: up to 5m3 of consumption per month. It is exempt from the increase.
Second tier: between 5 and 15m3 of monthly consumption. Covers most consumers.
Third tier: goes from 15 to 25m3 of consumption.
Fourth tier: above 25m3.
According to AMAL, Algarve municipalities are obliged to reach the target of 15% in reducing water consumption, established by the Government, and fines will be applied in cases where uses considered excessive persist. Municipalities that, for the second consecutive month, do not reduce consumption, suffer a reduction in the water supplied to them, which means that they will have less water available in their taps.
The president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community hopes that with these measures we will gain “real awareness of the serious problem we are experiencing in the Algarve region, which requires everyone’s involvement and effort”. António Pina considers that in the case of the second tier, which includes the vast majority of consumers, “if a family saves 15% on consumption, the increase in tariffs will be zero. In the remaining tiers, if consumers adopt the same stance, they will also not feel the rise in tariffs, but anyone who does not save, who is not in solidarity with all other consumers and continues to use more water than they should and need, will be penalised”.
Of the 16 municipalities in the Algarve, only Silves expressed their intention not to implement this measure.
Now a look at some of the other stories that have been hitting the headlines in the last month.
66-year-old accountant accused of 19 crimes of aiding illegal immigration
The Public Ministry (MP) charged an accountant with crimes of aiding illegal immigration and falsifying documents that occurred between 2019 and 2020, in the Algarve, benefiting from financial compensation between 100 and 1,300 euros, it was announced today.
According to a note published on the portal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the District of Faro, the woman, aged 66, is accused by the Public Prosecutor of the Albufeira Court of 19 crimes of aiding illegal immigration and 56 of forgery of documents.
According to the MP, the defendant “issued false receipt invoices” through the Tax Authority (AT) portal, in return for payment of amounts between 100 and 1,300 euros, the note reads.
The aim was to complete the declarations of income earned by immigrants who did not have sufficient income to request the right to family reunification.
The practice aimed to create the illusion among the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), now extinct, that the income was sufficient for the right to family reunification to be granted.
The woman accessed the AT electronic portal with the data provided by the immigrants, issuing receipts, “giving a third party trader as the purchaser of the immigrant’s work and indicating a value for the work provided”.
The receipt was then given to the immigrant who completed his administrative process with the SEF, “justifying that he had sufficient income from salaried work to support family reunification”, concludes the Prosecutor’s Office.
Works on the road network will increase safety and traffic flow in Albufeira
Albufeira City Council announced today that it is carrying out a series of works on the municipality’s road network to increase the safety of motorists and pedestrians and the fluidity of traffic.
In a statement, the municipality said that, among the works, is the contract to requalify Estrada do Paraíso, covering a length of 1,500 metres, which is almost completed, representing an investment of 85 thousand euros.
“This is a complex project that consisted of repaving several streets, namely the Paradise Road and the school and market streets”, says the Mayor, José Carlos Rolo, quoted in the note.The mayor adds that there was “the need to rectify the changes caused by tree roots and various collapses, and the requalification of the walkways”.
Suspect of robbing goldsmith shop in Quarteira is in pre-trial detention
A 23-year-old man suspected of robbing a goldsmith shop at gunpoint in November 2023 in Quarteira will await trial in preventive detention, the Judiciary Police ( PJ ) announced today.
In a statement, the police reported that the man, arrested on Wednesday at his home, “is strongly indicted” for the crime of robbery perpetrated using “an instrument used as a firearm”.
The man, who “did not act alone” in the robbery of the goldsmith shop in Quarteira, in the municipality of Loulé, was detained during a joint operation by the PJ and the Republican National Guard.After being heard in the first judicial interrogation, preventive detention was imposed on him, the most serious coercive measure.
PJ arrests drug trafficker with international arrest warrant
The Judicial Police (PJ) detained, in the Algarve, a citizen with an Interpol international arrest warrant , issued by the UK judicial authorities, suspected of committing the crime of drug trafficking, it was announced today.
“The location of the man, and subsequent arrest, by the PJ’s Criminal Information Unit, was possible, in less than 24 hours, through the exchange of police information with the National Crime Agency (NCA), which leads the fight against crime. serious and organised in the United Kingdom”, details the PJ in a statement.
Pending extradition, the Évora Court of Appeal ordered that the individual be held in preventive detention.
Fire destroys Algarve restaurant In Praia Da Luz
A fire destroyed a restaurant in Praia da Luz, in the municipality of Lagos,on Wednesday, without causing any injuries. According to a source from the Algarve Civil Protection Sub-regional Command, the fire alert was given shortly after midnight, and the restaurant is described as being “completely burnt down”.
“The restaurant, built in wood, was closed and with no one inside,” said the same source. The causes of the fire are unknown and are being investigated by police authorities, he added.25 Civil Protection elements were involved in fighting the flames, supported by nine vehicles. Reports on social media claim that the restaurant that has burnt down was called Paraíso.
This is the third restaurant since the turn of the year that has been damaged by fire. Two restaurants located on Vau beach in Portimão, were partially destroyed on the 16th January, following a fire that was extinguished at 7:10 am, a source from the Maritime Police revealed .The Source from the Algarve Sub-Regional Command said that the alert for the fire was given at 6:15 am, with 22 operational personnel at the location at 7:10 am, with members of the Portimão, Lagoa and Monchique Fire Department, PSP, Maritime Authority and Municipal Protection Service Civil, with the support of 10 vehicles. The causes of the fire are not yet known.
Finally to end this report, a subject we at Safe Communities have been promoting heavily in the past year, Loulé City Council presented in Quarteira, the evacuation signage due to the risk of tsunami, which provides for the installation of six sirens, 140 signs and 13 meeting points along the coast.
“Living is a risk and we have to be prepared [if a tsunami occurs]”, said the mayor of Loulé during the ceremony to present the new signage, at Zé beach, on Calçadão de Quarteira.
For Vítor Aleixo, the most important thing will be to “raise awareness and inform” the population and tourists about the behaviour they should have in the event of a tsunami warning.
Have a great week.