Another step forward has been taken in the long-running battle for islanders’ rights, with parliament unanimously approving a deal for those living in the settlement of Culatra, who soon will be able to apply for a licence to stay put.
Islanders in this tight-knit community will soon slumber in peace, untroubled by further threats of having their houses knocked down and will be able to carry on with their way of life that, although seen by Lisbon as unconventional, is as Portuguese as it gets.
Amendments to existing laws alllow Culatra residents to apply for licences so they legally can occupy their own homes.
The essential piece of paper will allow each householder 30 years of untroubled residence and when this period is up, if the inhabitant is still linked to traditional fishing or island activities and if the island home is their only property, another 30-year term will be granted.
The islanders actually want these residency rules in place so as to stop property speculation. The rules will help preserve their identity that until recently was under threat from the Ministry of the Environment which had instructed the Polis Litoral Ria Formosa Society to remove many of those properties using an ever-shifting lexicon of poorly thought out reasons.
The resulting widespread demolition plan caused a local and national outcry with the new socialist government slow to spot the idiocy of a continuing battle that, in both public relations and moral terms, it was losing.
For those second-home owners whose work is not related to things piscatorial or local, the already approved Culatra development plan does not propose to demolish further properties, concentrating as it does on improving the island infrastructure and public areas.
The persistence of around 1,000 Culatra islanders is paying off. They always had the moral high ground as many had materials transport licences from when their properties were constructed, had been paying rates to Faro council and had been paying utility bills all of which showed they legally were settled and had property rights.
The handling of the demolition process could not have been worse, with the head of Polis, Sebastião Teixeira, rightly cast as the villain of the piece due to his messianic determination to see the Ria Formosa islands rid of inconvenient people and houses, to be replaced with sand and, as the rumour mill suggested, posh tourist developments - although this has never been substantiated.
Teixeira lost his job over his poor management of the island problem and his lack of respect for his ministerial boss, João Matos Fernandes, who cottoned on pretty quickly that the vote-losing strategy he had inherited was likely to turn into an even longer battle than had been anticipated.
The relaxation of the strict zoning and property rules, plus a dollop of humanity, have combined to afford the Culatra islanders some peace of mind.
They will, however, remain vigilant as politicians change and, as they have just proved, laws can be amended.
