Aljezur mayor loses final appeal against 'loss of mandate' ruling

Paul Rees 03 March 2018

The mayor of Aljezur, José Amarelinho, may not be mayor much longer as his final appeal to the Constitutional Court has been rejected.

The case against the Mayor of Aljezur goes back to 2012 when the socialist mayor was condemned by Lagos Court which ordered he be relieved of his mayoral position, also to serve three years and two months in prison unless he paid €5,000 to the League for the Protection of Nature.

His crimes related to the Vale de Telha housing development and licensing irregularities between 1990 and 2008.

The court of appeal in Évora rejected his appeal in June 2017, as has the Constitutional Court on Feb 22nd, leaving the mayor little space for further legal maneuvers.

In the same case, the court also condemned the then Mayor of Aljezur, Manuel Marreiros, to four years and three months' imprisonment or paying €500 to Almargem.

The court established that the two public officials had licensed works in the Vale da Telha area, without following the municipal master plan, "acting with indifference before the law ..., taking advantage of the council powers and supporting their friends and supporters."

José Amarelinho and Manuel Marreiros had "acted contrary to the law," both in the licensing processes for private buildings and for not doing anything about the building planning breaches.

Amarelinho, famed in the Algarve for his strident anti-oil exploration stance, says he will make an announcement next week but short of the European Court, he has nowhere left in Portugal to hear yet another appeal. He has huge local support and is a popular figure but will have annoyed the Socialist Party hierarchy in opposing the government’s pro-oil policy, so can expect little support from Lisbon.

Comments

0 #8 Barry North 2018-03-27 22:46

Vale da Telha was created BEFORE the National Park, as Espartal but NOT Arrifana. If, Vale da Telha has poor infrastructures is due to the underground corruption activity of ALL Aljezur mayors such as Amarelinho, Marreiros and Vieira. Giving credit to such scam reveals that our society is extremely sick...

0 #7 Barry North 2018-03-27 10:31

Quoting WestCoastDreamer:

Aljezur certainly does seem to be a well run council. The events and festivals that they run are legendary. The area is also well maintained.
While Vale de Telha may be inappropriate Idevelopment in a national park, (it is also poorly planed in terms of having been overly ambitious) it certainly does help the local economy.
The mayor will be missed.

i am sorry but you are totally wrong, blind who doesnt want to see the reality. The mayor and friends are a bunch of crooks

+1 #6 Ed 2018-03-11 11:34

Quoting Egon:

I don´t quite understand the message the author wants to spread out! He starts that the mayor was "taking advantage of the council powers and supporting their friends and supporters" and ends with "and leads the council with intelligence and care" So tell me: is he now a croock or a saint ? Make up your mind

Both sides of the coin. He did wrong at Vale da Telha yet is a much loved and respected mayor who leads his council with compassion and dedication. Make up your mind which is more important....

+1 #5 Egon 2018-03-11 11:20

I don´t quite understand the message the author wants to spread out! He starts that the mayor was "taking advantage of the council powers and supporting their friends and supporters" and ends with "and leads the council with intelligence and care" So tell me: is he now a croock :-x

or a saint :roll:

? Make up your mind

+1 #4 Alan 2018-03-04 21:22

Quoting liveaboard:

Whatever irregularities may have taken place, the Aljezur camara seems to be run effectively under his leadership; regular public events and festivals help boost tourism, a full time crew with significant machinery has been working on fire break clearance for years, long before it became mandatory. Roads are reasonably maintained, and generally there's a feeling that the public money is, for the most part, spent wisely.
And now of course, Amarelinho has fought loudly and publicly against oil drilling, defying his party bosses.
He didn't have to do that; hats off to Jose.

If you lived with the filthy Streets, dangerous Ill repaired Roads and severe lack of investment in Vale da Telha an area which arguably pays a lion size portion of Council tax you wouldn’t be so impressed with this man

0 #3 Peter Booker 2018-03-04 11:22

The other end of the mayors´ illegalities is the individuals who benefitted from them. What happens to their developments, now that the planning process has been proved to be defective? There must be a number of concerned householders in Vale da Telha.

+2 #2 WestCoastDreamer 2018-03-04 10:32

Aljezur certainly does seem to be a well run council. The events and festivals that they run are legendary. The area is also well maintained.
While Vale de Telha may be inappropriate development in a national park, (it is also poorly planed in terms of having been overly ambitious) it certainly does help the local economy.
The mayor will be missed.

+1 #1 liveaboard 2018-03-04 09:20

Whatever irregularities may have taken place, the Aljezur camara seems to be run effectively under his leadership; regular public events and festivals help boost tourism, a full time crew with significant machinery has been working on fire break clearance for years, long before it became mandatory. Roads are reasonably maintained, and generally there's a feeling that the public money is, for the most part, spent wisely.
And now of course, Amarelinho has fought loudly and publicly against oil drilling, defying his party bosses.
He didn't have to do that; hats off to Jose.

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