The gypsy community, rendered homeless after Sunday’s tornado damaged their collection of shacks, temporarily has been housed in a pavilion in Faro.Faro Mayor, Rogério Bacalhau, admitted today the municipality had no provision for housing for the 100 or so newly homeless residents, "As soon as conditions permit, they will have to return to the places where they have been for many years," admitting that that "there is no permanent housing available for these people."
"We are studying solutions for the future, but we have no solution for any of the gypsy communities in the municipality," said mayor Bacalhau.
The tornado that hit Faro and other parts of the Algarve's eastern section on Sunday severely damaged the Cerro do Bruxo shanty town of shelters, made of wood, boards and plastic sheeting.
Many of the gypsies had young children and took shelter from the tornado and accompanying rain, in the nearby hospital
According to the mayor of Faro, the tornado "passed alongside" the gypsy camp and there is "no great damage in terms of houses," unlike in the storm of 2012, in which the whole camp "was totally destroyed."
"I hope one day to have solutions,” said the mayor, noting that there are around a dozen such communities in his council area, none of which he has plans for, despite Faro council's bouyant financial accounts and expansive spending plans.
The president said the council was willing to help with the reconstruction of some of the damaged houses in the shanty town, but as for council accommodation, there is a "very large lack of social housing," as there has been no construction of social housing in Faro "for more than 30 years, and the waiting list is a very long one."
Bacalhau’s reaction to the damage at Praia de Faro was altogether more urgent, asking the government to fund ‘an intervention plan’ to stabilise the sand dunes, the bulk of which ended up on the road after huge seas and high winds displaced hundreds of tons of sand.
According to Bacalhau, the council will ask the Government for "an emergency meeting", saying it is necessary to create "an intervention plan that gives greater sustainability" to the dunes along Faro beach.
"It is not the politicians who are going to present solutions, they have to be some well-prepared technical studies to put solutions on the table and then those in power have to decide how to implement them," said the president of the municipality, keener on stopping sand movement than housing humans.
The Portuguese weather service, IPMA, confirmed that the region of Faro was hit by a tornado on Sunday, the second in less than a week.
