The president of the Algarve’s regional tourist authority, Desidério Silva, has criticised the EN125 project, now that most of the road works on the western section of the road have been completed.
In an interview published on Algarve Económico, Silva said the work, at certain points on the EN125 was "a complete aberration."
The tourism boss commented that now that the Algarve is full of visitors, the remaining road works should remain suspended but that after summer season, "corrections must be made."
The region is booming, with the British leading the rapid expansion of the Algarve as one of Europe’s most popular holiday destinations, reflected in high occupation rates for the region’s hotels and high levels of advanced bookings for the autumn.
Silva believes that the British will remain the Algarve’s strongest fans even after the UK leaves the European Union, “because the Algarve brand is very strong in that country and therefore, it will always be our main market, in terms of tourists and residents."
Should the UK stop supplying tourists, Silva is confident that the slack will be taken up by other nationalities, especially the French.
“What opinion do you have of what we can see of the upgrade works on the EN125?” asked Algarve Económico:
Silva replied, “I think there are zones that are a complete aberration and there are situations that must be corrected after the summer... there are areas that used to have good conditions for overtaking and this Is no longer possible. So there are issues that can be technically corrected and improved. Technical projects are one thing, the reality on the road is different and it takes some sensitivity to make the necessary corrections.”
The reality is the EN125 is as slow as it was before all this work started, that some parts of the upgrade have yet to be completed despite years of effort, that the road surface is better, that there are dozens of new roundabouts and that overtaking is severly restricted, even on sections where overtaking used to be easy.
The mishandled upgrade project has pleased few and enraged drivers for years. Next, will be the EN125 upgrade for the eastern Algarve from Olhão to Vila Real de Santo António which locals are praying will not take another decade to complete.
Desidério Silva clearly had not seen the July figures from the region’s hotels association which showed an occupancy rate 0f 86.5%, lower due to a sharp decline in the British market (-12.6%).
This situation has been attributed to the devaluation of the pound resulting from the Brexit process.
AHETA said in its report for July that "UK official statistics confirm a reduction in the number of Brits traveling overseas (-4.6% in May), a trend that is set to increase in the near future."
Far from the French filling the gap in hotel bookings, the Germans have taken up the challenge with a rise of 11.7% On the positive side, the behavior of the German market, which grew by 11.7% in July, pretty much in line with what has been happening since the beginning of the tourist season.
See 'Brexit Brits lose interest in the Algarve'
