Ria Formosa islanders need €3,600 each to block latest demolition orders

Paul Rees 01 February 2018

Ria Formosa islanders in receipt of a new round of demolition orders, authorised by an out-of-touch and duplicitous Ministry of the Environment, are going back to court to tackle the insistence by the State that their houses should not be there.

The residents of Farol and Hangares on the island of Culatra, had been assured that their properties would not be touched as they had been recognised by the court in Loulé either as principal homes or as belonging to shellfishermen and fishermen.

The agreement with the government was that these categories would be exempt from demolition but this, like so many agreements before, has turned out to be politically expedient waffle as in mid-January, further eviction notices arrived.

The Polis Ria Formosa company is due to take legal possession of 22 properties on February 28th but again may be faced with a court freeze if the islanders can raise the money needed to lodge a blocking order.

The cost incurred by the islanders to date already is heavy but each of the 22 property owners now must raise a further €3,600 to lodge their court action, or lose their homes. This sum is out of reach of most, so fundraising has started to help those unable to pay this stiff court fee.

There will be a public debate on the "misguided, brutal, socially destructive and deliberately aggressive" actions of the Polis Litoral Ria Formosa company on Saturday, February 3rd at 10:30 am, at the ‘Os Olhanenses’ sports club.

The 22 houses in question, 12 at Farol and ten at Hangares were spared in the first wave of demolitions as they has court protection, since which the court rejected all but two of the lawsuits.

Representatives of those islanders due to lose their homes have tried in vain to communicate with the Environment Minister, João Matos Fernandes, and have received zero response, a standard tactic when the minister’s duplicity is highlighted.

Comments

-1 #4 Ellis Island 2018-02-02 23:50

Quoting Ben Sutton:

So much of this stems from the lunacy of the EU accepting the then Portuguese PM Cavaco Silva's assurance that Portugal already met the minimum standards of EU membership. That, at the very least, the rule of equivalence before the law was understood and enforced. As we can see by the current prosecution of a senior Salazar era judge - this was total nonsense!
Knowing that EC membership would raise the bar in so many ways, including building standards, in the early days tens of thousands of properties were hastily thrown up across Portugal. Illegally as the local Municipal's intentionally turned a blind eye. Built under the old regulations so with zero insulation to floors, walls or roof.
These coastal dwellings are just the most noticeable of the huge backlog of still illegal or semi legal habitations. A great number sold to us unsuspecting EU citizens !

In the trade (journalism) your sort of tirade is known as "complete b*ll*cks". Apologies to Ed ... But it's nice to see you back - and with a new name too!

-1 #3 Denby 2018-02-02 15:50

Mr Sutton,
Try focusing on the present and Less on the past,.as the present is the only place where we can make changes.
You are correct in saying that these island dwellings are an eye sore. But the people who bought them are responsible for ensuring that they are complaint with all building and tax regulations.
This type of problem happened to UK citizens a few years ago in Spain, people were obviously that naive and thought they could build a house without planning permission or without hiring a solicitor to carry out a background check on the legal status of the property, it was a costly mistake and some lost everything.

-2 #2 Ben Sutton 2018-02-02 10:59

So much of this stems from the lunacy of the EU accepting the then Portuguese PM Cavaco Silva's assurance that Portugal already met the minimum standards of EU membership. That, at the very least, the rule of equivalence before the law was understood and enforced. As we can see by the current prosecution of a senior Salazar era judge - this was total nonsense!
Knowing that EC membership would raise the bar in so many ways, including building standards, in the early days tens of thousands of properties were hastily thrown up across Portugal. Illegally as the local Municipal's intentionally turned a blind eye. Built under the old regulations so with zero insulation to floors, walls or roof.
These coastal dwellings are just the most noticeable of the huge backlog of still illegal or semi legal habitations. A great number sold to us unsuspecting EU citizens !

0 #1 Jack Reacher 2018-02-02 09:51

With all the money these so called residents accrue through summer rental of their property, the fee paymemt to the xourt should be easily attainable. Or did they not pay rental tax on their ill gotten gains.

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