In a life-altering move for many islanders, the government has recognised the 'fishing nucleus of Culatra' as a real place and now part of Faro Council’s union of parishes.
In a statement posted on the Diário da República website (n.º 198/2018, 2º Suplemento, Série I de 2018-10-15) the government has taken note of the islanders’ claims to a quiet life and the right to continue to live in houses that many of them were born in.
While stressing the dangers of living on a low-lying sandy island, the State admits that “it is equally true that the Culatra, because it is a fishing village with historical roots, with clear evidence of old occupation, has a social, economic and cultural status worthy of recognition and appreciation.”
The ordinance waxed lyrical about the island’s history, from the early fishing settlement 150 years ago, to support services during WWII and the current occupations of fishing and shellfishing.
Of the original island settlers, the Socialist Party in Faro commented, “their descendants now have the possibility of safeguarding their homes for the future, with due licensing and without fear that some government will in the future try what others have tried to do in the recent past,"
The government statement could have been written by the islanders themselves, including note of “the unique environmental and socio-economic heritage” of the Ria Formosa lagoon system and the island inhabitants.
Culatra village now is fully inserted in the public maritime domain and the coastal plan, for so long used to destroy dwellings, now will implement the €1.5 million project “to improve conditions for those who live or work there” - a project already cleared by the government having sat in the bottom drawer since 2005.
This project will be based on a legal amendment that will allow unregistered houses to be registered and their titles of use to be renewed. Culatra residents have six months to ask the Portuguese Environment Agency for a title that gives them 30-years trouble-free life. This licenmce is renewable and can be handed down to descendants, if they too are involved in the island's commercial and social life.
There are plenty of qualifying terms and conditions relating to the properties and their owners but for principal homes that house islanders involved locally in traditional activities or ‘services to the community,’ the news is nothing but positive.
The document was signed off by the (now former) Minister of National Defence, José Alberto de Azeredo Ferreira Lopes, the Minister for the Environment, João Pedro Matos Fernandes and the Minister of the Sea, Ana Paula Vitorino.
The new rules, applicable as from today, are for the village of Culatra on the eponymous island which has two additional settlements, Farol and Hangares. It is not yet known what the State has in mind for these two smaller villages.
How this ordinance affects demolitions on Culatra planned for early November remains to be seen (HERE) as these are the tail end of a raft of demolitions initiated early this year.
Serious problems exist on the neighbouring island of Armona where around 140 illegally sited properties are under threat of demolition unless the Minister for the Environment acts on his promise of legaising the area as part of the allowable urban zone.
