Faro faces a shortage of space in which to bury its dead with cemetery space all but occupied.
According to the mayor, Rogério Bacalhau, around 2,000 corpses in the ‘Cemitério Novo’ are not decomposing quickly enough. Normally, bodied are dug up after five years and the remains moved to make space for new arrivals.
The second problem is that Servilusa, one of the companies competing for the construction of a new crematorium to solve the problem, has contested the tendering process in court and the Council has no idea when this issue will be resolved.
As the Cemitério da Esperança has no room left, it now is difficult to find spaces for the 400 people who die in the municipality each year.
To solve the problem, Bacalhau has decided that temporary space is needed and is building an extra area for 176 bodies at the 'Cemitério Novo,’ to be followed up with space for 336 more.
In the event of a court decision on the crematorium, this extra space may not be needed if the crematorium goes ahead.
Rogério Bacalhau says that it also is possible to install a temporary crematorium next to the 'Cemitério Novo' to cremate bodies that have not decomposed in the allotted time, thus freeing up space for new arrivals.
This later was denied by the town hall which said the possibility of cremation will be discussed on a case-by-case basis with families, if families are available. Cremation could be an option but the Council is not going to create a temporary crematorium.
Mike Thompson from Avalon Funeral Plans in the Algarve commented that a local crematorium is needed, "the current trip to the facility near Beja is just too much for many bereaved so a local crematorium would be a valued addition - the question has always been, "when?""
In November 2017, Albufeira council awarded a contract to build a crematorium, next to the current Vale Pedras cemetery.
Cremal - Cremações do Algarve, Lda won the contract to build the new unit, the first and only crematorium in the Algarve, which will save a 300 kilometre round trip to Beja for those families in the Algarve that opt for the cremation of their loved ones.
