The Algarve Situation Report Wednesday 6th March 2024
by Mike Evans
A very good day to you all and as we start to see the weather improving and more holiday makers visible in the area we are still in the throes of a serious drought situation. We hear that local farmers are planning to drive their tractors and other agricultural vehicles along the N125 at a very slow pace on Friday the 8th March to protest their concerns about the drought situation.
Macário Correia, the president of the Sotavento Irrigation Association, in the eastern Algarve was quoted this week “Farmers from the Algarve, will meet at 09:00 [on Friday] at the Boliqueime football field and will drive slowly, with tractors and vehicles linked to agriculture, vans and trucks, during the morning, between Boliqueime and Almancil”at 12:00 p.m.,and a representation of farmers will go to the Algarve Coordination and Development Commission ( CCDR ), in Faro, to deliver a document with “urgent demands” about the problems linked to the lack of water and “ reorganisation” of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The slow march is organised by the recently created Commission for Hydro Agricultural Sustainability of the Algarve (CSHA), which claims to bring together more than 1,000 Algarve entities and farmers, namely, all associations in the region linked to agriculture, livestock, forestry, flowers and ornamental plants , among others, according to Macário Correia.
In a statement, CSHA states that among the demands to be delivered to the Algarve CCDR and the next Government is the urgent request to increase water storage capacity, as well as the implementation of equitable cuts in water use and the restructuring of the Ministry of Agriculture, with the reinstallation of the regional Agriculture and Fisheries directorates.
The new association, formed last January, following the Government’s announcement that the region would have water cuts, thus announces the mobilisation of farmers for “a large street protest”, carried out in the form of a slow march on the EN 125, between 9am and 2pm, between the Maritenda and Quatro Estradas roundabouts.
The commission calls for “equitable cuts” in water use, recalls the suspension of new investments in this area, suggests an information campaign among the population, the updating of underground abstraction titles, and contests the “insufficiency” of support presented by the Government .On the other hand, he reinforces, as the rainfall in recent weeks exceeded the Government’s estimates, “all the volume allocated higher than estimated should be directed to alleviate the cuts imposed on agriculture”.
It also demands the restructuring of the Ministry of Agriculture, and that this allows for “less bureaucratic burden and fiscal pressure”, defending the “reinstallation” of the regional Agriculture and Fisheries directorates. Whether their calls will be heard from the government as it is currently in recession due to the election remains to be seen.
Now a look at some of the other stories from across the region in the last week.
Immigrants protest in Portimão due to delays by the agency that replaced SEF
Dozens of people demonstrated this Monday morning at the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum (AIMA) , formerly SEF, in Portimão. Immigrants complain about the delay in granting residence in the country, SIC Notícias reported.
They work in restaurants, hotels, construction or agriculture and, this Monday, they took the morning to see if together they could make themselves heard. They have been waiting for months for their residence card .
They filed the papers at the time of the former Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) , but are still waiting, now, for the completion of the task that was passed on to AIMA. Without documents, they cannot leave the country and there are those who are managing personal dramas remotely, such as illness and death of children and parents.
And even those who do not intend to return home anytime soon complain that the lack of documents prevents them from working legally.
There are cases of workers who, however, have become ill and are finding it difficult to receive continued medical care. In other words, there are cases that may still have to wait more than a year.
AIMA, which replaced the SEF at the end of October last year, states that it inherited 350 thousand cases and that it wants to resolve all pending issues by the summer of 2025.
Man who sold drugs in Olhão arrested by PSP
Last week, the PSP arrested a 52-year-old man for the crime of drug trafficking in Olhão, that police force reported this Monday
The arrest occurred following an action specifically aimed at combating trafficking and direct sales to consumers, in the city of Olhão, details the PSP in a statement.
After searching the suspect, it was possible to detect and seize around 253 individual doses of heroin, 13 individual doses of cocaine and 525 euros that the PSP suspects resulted from the sale of that type of drug. The detainee was brought before the judicial authority, and the coercive measure of prohibiting him from staying in places and contacting individuals associated with drug trafficking was applied to him.
Spanish crew member suffered Heart Attack in Barra de Olhão and died
A crew member from the ship “Rafael Y Ana” who was on board went into cardiorespiratory arrest and had no vital signs this morning. The vessel was sailing approximately 15 miles, the equivalent of 28 kilometres, south of the Olhão bar.
The National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) defined the evacuation as urgent. The Search and Rescue Coordination Center immediately contacted the Air Force to prepare an aerial vehicle, and the Captain of the Port of Olhão committed a vessel from the Olhão Lifeguard Station to carry out the rescue. The INEM medical team was also on board, who after observation declared the death of the 45-year-old man, of Spanish nationality.
Tourism Sector awaits ‘green seal’ that certifies water savings
Tourism officials in the Algarve assured this week that the sector is taking measures and remains committed to the fight against drought, awaiting the launch of the water efficiency seal that will attest to the reduction in consumption.
“We are and will continue to implement measures to reduce water consumption”, assured the president of the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve ( AHETA ), the largest hotel association in the region.
Hélder Martins added that “the presentation of the ‘green seal’ that tourism enterprises hope will attest to the effective reduction in water consumption and the companies’ commitment to implementing water efficiency measures that contribute to savings and sustainable water management.
The representative of Algarve hoteliers said that “more structural” investments will take longer to implement, such as replacing plants in gardens with more resistant ones or a deeper change in sanitary equipment.
For his part, the president of the Algarve Tourism Region, André Gomes, assured that the sector “renewed and reinforced its commitment” to saving water, an effort that has been underway for a few years.
The official regretted that the modalities for implementing the new water efficiency seal, called ‘Save Water’, had not been announced, as initially planned, during the Lisbon Tourism Exchange, which took place between the 28th of February and the 3rd of March, but promised to launch the initiative soon.
André Gomes explained that hotels will be able to voluntarily adhere to a set of 60 measures that the sector can take to reduce water consumption.
Hotel units will have to register on a computer platform and their water consumption will be monitored throughout the year, he added.
In February, the Council of Ministers approved a resolution in which the Government recognizes the alert situation in the Algarve region, due to drought, and approved a framework of immediate response measures, of a temporary nature, to reduce consumption and rationalise energy consumption. use of water resources.
The measures will allow “to overcome the essential needs of the summer season and end the year 2024 with reserves for 2025”, according to the text of the resolution.
In January, the Minister of Environment and Climate Action had already announced water cuts of 25% in agriculture and 15% in the urban sector, which includes tourism, for the Algarve to preserve water reserves and face the drought.
The water saving measures decided must be implemented from now until “the end of the current hydrological year, which ends on September 30, 2024”.
It is expected that families will have less pressure to take showers and wash dishes and will no longer be able to wash their cars with mains water during the summer.
Those who consume little water will be able to maintain prices, but the sector regulator indicated that municipalities will be able to approve new tariffs that increase according to consumption levels.
Still in the tourism sector, measures are planned such as the installation of devices to reduce pressure or recirculate water, suspending the public water supply for irrigation of golf courses or closing showers and foot baths in bathing areas.
New Search and Rescue centre to open in Olhao
The Protection and Relief Operations Intervention Corps (CIOPS) and the Cinotechnical Unit (UK9) now have a unit based in the city of Olhão that always operates through activation of the GNR and ANEPC.
A letter is currently being drawn up, in order to collaborate with the Municipal Civil Protection and open fixed facilities in the municipality, so that the Cinotechnical Unit section (UK9) can increase its intervention capacity.
Manuel Duarte who, for professional reasons, resides in that city and is an operational recognized by the Republican National Guard, for search and rescue using the dog Miko, allows activation for the entire Algarve area and other areas that the GNR or National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority requests and is available to travel. It should be noted that, in 2021, the same operator intervened in the search for a missing elderly woman in São Brás de Alportel.
K9H-CIOPS (Protection and Relief Operations Intervention Corps) through the CIOPS Search and Rescue Force (FBS CIOPS) is a non-profit association, established on February 19, 2014, headquartered in Sangemil, Águas Santas in the municipality da Maia, and currently with a section of the Cinotechnical Unit (UK9) of the CIOPS Search and Rescue Force, now based in the municipality of Olhão.
Its work is to carry out prevention and intervention actions, throughout the national territory, in emergency protection and relief situations, based on earthquakes, search, rescue and rescue in different environments, as well as in other situations. emergency, with the fundamental mission of protecting, helping and assisting citizens and defending and preserving assets that are in trouble, due to causes arising from human action or nature.
Since June 8, 2019, by order of the President of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), Lieutenant-General Mourato Nunes, the K9H-CIOPS Association was granted recognition as a Civil Protection Volunteer Organization (OVPC) .
He also developed the “CIOPS goes to School” project to, in contact with younger people, exemplify that volunteering aims above all to help people in difficulty, solve social problems and improve the quality of life in the community.
Municipal swimming pools in Olhão reopen to the public
After the closure of the changing rooms at the beginning of last November, due to the detection of signs of the development of legionella culture, the Olhão municipal swimming pool complex reopens to the public on March 1st.
After a thorough intervention in the water network and subsequent analyzes carried out by the public health authority, this municipal establishment resumed normal activity, which shows that the problem has been completely overcome.
The sanitary hot water tank was replaced, electrical resistances were installed to increase the water’s heating capacity and a permanent water disinfection system was installed using a chlorine dioxide generator. In this way, and acting on both fronts to combat legionella (increasing water temperature and chemical disinfection), the municipality of Olhão guaranteed prophylactic action, which will prevent the problem from recurring. Monitoring of the water network will continue to be carried out regularly, through analyzes carried out by an independent entity.
Two suspects of drug trafficking and possession of prohibited weapons detained by GNR in VRSA
Police authorities arrested two people suspected of drug trafficking and possession of a prohibited weapon, following a road inspection carried out in Vila Real de Santo António, the GNR announced yesterday 29 February.
The detainees are a man and a woman, aged 41 and 44, and were arrested in flagrante delicto after the GNR soldiers ordered the vehicle they were travelling in to stop, in the town of Hortas, and detected that the driver did not have a driving licence. Afterwards, drugs and a prohibited weapon were found in his possession, the GNR said in a statement.
“Following the action, a search of the vehicle and a personal security search of the driver and occupant of the vehicle were carried out, and it was possible to verify that they were in possession of a narcotic product and a prohibited weapon, which led to their arrest and to the seizure of the material”, said the security force. The GNR highlighted that, after the first personal and vehicle search, a house search was then carried out at the residence of the detainees, which ended with the seizure of 47 doses of hashish, 32 of cocaine; 11 of heroin and eight of marijuana, as well as three cell phones, a precision scale, an automatic opening knife, bags for individualising doses and 159 euros.
The detainees were made defendants and the facts were sent to the Judicial Court of Vila Real de Santo António, indicated the GNR, highlighting that in the operation, resources were used to reinforce the Criminal Investigation Center (NIC) of Tavira and a drug detection kinesthetic binomial. of the Intervention Detachment (DI) of the Faro Territorial Command.
Two Arrested for Robbery of Elderly Persons
The GNR arrested two women aged 23 and 31 for robbery in the town of Luz de Tavira on Wednesday, and other crimes that occurred in the north of the country late last year.
“During a patrolling action, the military detected a vehicle in a hidden location, with two men aged 21 and 28 inside, who hid when they saw the Guard vehicle, and so were approached and inspected”, said the GNR in a statement.
During this inspection, the GNR received “an alert from a person regarding a robbery, and the two men becoming quite agitated, which immediately raised signs that their presence was related to the situation in question”. One of the soldiers immediately went to the location, having seen a group of people chasing two women, and managing to approach one of them, aged 23, who had in her possession a stolen gold chain. The other, aged 31, was later intercepted by members of the public near the train station and handed over to the GNR.
After police investigations, the 23-year-old woman was arrested for stealing from a 74 year old man, with the gold chain found in her possession coming from the robbery.
The GNR also found that moments earlier, “the same suspect had also tried to steal a gold chain from a 64 year old man. As for the remaining three members of the group, they were constituted as defendants and subject to an identity and residence term”.
Following this police action and with the collaboration of the Tavira Public Security Police, it was possible to associate elements of this group with other crimes that occurred in the north of the country.
The Republican National Guard also found that “the 31 year old woman was suspected of a robbery by snatching a gold chain on November 14, 2023, in the town of Ferreiras, Albufeira, with the victim being a 74 year old man, this crime is being investigated at the Albufeira Criminal Investigation Center, which led to her being arrested. In addition to the gold chain, three mobile phones, €268.38 in cash and the vehicle in which they were being transported were also seized. The detainees, aged 23 and 31, will be present at the Judicial Court of Tavira and Portimão for the application of the respective coercive measures.
Until the next time Stay Safe
The Algarve has been on alert due to drought since February 5th and the Government has already admitted to increasing the level of restrictions, declaring a state of calamity or environmental emergency, if the measures now implemented are insufficient to deal with water scarcity in the region. We will see where this leads us!
The project, which is expected to have an implementation period of 120 days, will benefit many important roads in the parish of Alvor. In the meantime, the municipality has already warned the population that there will be some constraints on car circulation once the works start.
The event foresees a set of initiatives promoted by various civil protection agents and services, cooperating entities that will promote a set of activities, with a view to the participation and involvement of the school community and the population in general.
According to the Government, the current situation in the Algarve “appears particularly critical”, and there could be an eventual “effective disruption in public supply systems” for human consumption, if water use continues at current levels. In a scenario in which measures are not adopted and implemented to guarantee the preservation of water reserves and in the absence of precipitation well above the maximum values occurred in the last six years, the supply of water for human consumption in the Algarve region will be reduced and severely compromised”, states the resolution.
The “Civil Protection Heroes” activity is aimed at pre-school and 1st cycle students (from 1st to 3rd year), while students in the 4th year of 1st cycle participate in the “First Aid” activity, which allows them to learn basic first aid techniques, how to make a call to 112, among other low-complexity tasks. At the end, children are given a card and an emergency kit to use in the event of a serious accident or catastrophe.
The director of the Diet and Nutrition course at UAlg, Maria Palma Mateus, said that “the project will contribute to the dissemination of the Mediterranean diet, showing that, although it is something traditional, it is versatile and can adapt to today’s times and diverse needs.” This is because, he says, “the work focused on adapting” the Mediterranean diet to the characteristics and concept of the ketogenic diet that the company produces, “which is a diet based on foods very rich in fat and less cereals”.
Still on environmental issues The Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission ( CCDR ) announced this Monday that it had awarded the technical study for the proposal for the base route of the metrobus that aims to create a connection in 15 minutes between Faro, Loulé and Olhão. The project aims to promote sustainable multimodal urban mobility, as part of the transition to an economy with zero emissions net carbon emissions and decarbonization of public transport in the region”, according to the press release.
Last week, 22 of the 24 police officers who participated in the two shooting certification sessions failed and were subjected to a second test. A police source explained that the shooting certification in Faro was cancelled to avoid the risk of more unused police officers.
The court also declared that Portugal did not adopt the necessary conservation measures for these sites. Following the ruling, Portugal formally designated the 61 sites in question as special conservation zones through the adoption of a specific decree, but this designation is not sufficient to comply with the ruling, because Portugal also needs to adopt conservation objectives and measures, he says the Commission.