First, there was the study into motorcaravans in the Algarve. This was released in January 2014 after seven years work with the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Algarve) announcing it had "established a protocol" with the region’s mayors and the regional tourist board.
The agreement aimed “to create and promote the Autocaravan Support Network in the Algarve Region” and covered an inadequate 26 campsites and service areas.
Then work started to “support the development of regulatory framework mechanisms,” and three and a half years later, we have the snappily titled ‘Municipal Regulation for the Licensing of the Camping and Occasional Caravan Activity and the Exercise of the Auto-caravan Activity,’ which Silves council released today as a set of municipal regulations.
This is the first set of by-laws that covers motor caravanning and which, it is claimed, “will contribute in a particularly positive way to the planning and qualification of this segment of tourism activity in the region.”
This is according to the CCDR which calls the municipal regulation a "decisive step towards the consolidation of the regional strategy for the reception of autocaravanning, since it can be shared with other municipalities in the region."
The blurb put out by those involved seems inversely proportional to the amount of joined-up thinking completed.
The CCDR adds that the Silves regulations are, "within the strict framework of legal provisions in force in matters of spatial planning and environment, preservation of the landscape and the natural values of the county, but also in the perspective of the promotion and diversification of local-based economies in a context of legality, contributing to discipline the activity of motor caravanning in the county and articulate this modality of tourism with the environmental, social and cultural aspects of the heritage of Silves .”
Whatever this turns out to be, it starts on June 8th.
Earlier this month, the Portuguese Federation of Motorcaravanning said the number of motorcaravanners is growing 15% a year, and described an environment of oppression with little infrastructure support for its members and for foreigners coming to the country in motorcaravans.
FPA president José Pires said the market will exceed two million overnight stays this year which will bring €100 million to local trade.” With 80% at or over retirement age, this is a well off and 'time rich' group but Pires complained of a lack of appropriate legislation, "There is no law that adequately covers the motorhome, motorcaravanning or the necessary infrastructure to support the activity. The few laws that have been published are useless as they have been written without listening to the organisations that represent motorcaravanning.”
Pires has yet to comment on the Silves municipal plan for motorcaravanning but will be aware that it only covers the Silves municipal area.
In January this year, owners of registered campsites voiced concerns that the new 'support network' failed to exclude non-registered sites from operating and called for law changes to leave them as the sole providers. It is unlikely that the Silves plan addresses this regional problem.
Maybe there is an end in sight to the problem of illegal motorcaravan parking, in Silves at least but the municipality is noted for its tolerance in allowing motorcaravans to park for long periods in municipal carparks.
After so much talk, so many laudible reports and regulations and so little action to welcome motorcaranners as an essential part of the region's tourism mix, it remains to be seen if the Silves regulations will be adhered to, or whether motorcaravanners will move to alternative council areas to enjoy a less regulated life.
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For a .pdf of the rules in Portuguese, click HERE