First national monument offloaded under new Revive scheme

Paul Rees 23 October 2016

EvoraHotel The Vila Galé Hotel Group is to invest around €5 million to transform a derelict convent in Elvas into a hotel.

The former convent of São Paulo, in the city centre, will open as a hotel in 2018 and an expected 25 to 30 jobs will be created as a result.

"We decided to apply to renovate the Convento de São Paulo because we want to contribute to and revitalise this city which is full of history. It is our ambition also to develop in the country's interior in less well-known tourist areas to encouraging job and wealth generation," said the chairman of the board of directors the Vila Galé group, Jorge Rebelo de Almeida who already runs Vila Galé Clube de Campo in Beja, and the Vila Galé Evora as part of the group's 27 hotels worldwide.

The Vila Galé Elvas will feature 64 rooms, two restaurants, bar and wine cellar, library, outdoor pool, spa and events room.

This is the first announcement under the government’s controversial ‘Revive’ programme which aims to offload selected national monuments to the private sector by offering 30 to 50 year leases and easy borrowing terms from a special €150 million fund to encourage development.

The list of national monuments includes the Mosteiro de Santa Clara-a-Nova, the Fortaleza de Peniche, the Castelo de Vila Nova de Cerveira, the Forte do Guincho in Cascais, the Paço Real de Caxias in Oeiras, the Mosteiro de São Salvador de Travanca in Amarante, the Mosteiro de Arouca, the Pavilhão do Parque in Caldas da Rainha, the Castelo de Portalegre, the Forte de S. Roque da Meia Praia in the Algarve and the Quinta do Paço de Valverde, Évora.

The Algarve's Forte de S. Roque da Meia Praia in Lagos is still up for grabs although the local council now wants it back to make into a ecology centre.

Jorge Rebelo de Almeida from the Vila Galé Hotel Group did not make clear whether the investment in Elvas was from Vila Galé’s own resources or from the Revive’s programme’s loan scheme.