In attempt to scupper the sale of the Herdade da Comporta estate to developers, Portugal’s top environmental organisations, including Zero, Quercus and the League for the Protection of Nature, today issued a statement that there is no "public interest" that justifies the ruination of this natural area.
The former Grupo Espiríto Santo asset is to be sold off to Amorim Luxury SA and Port Noir Investments SARL - better known as Vanguard Properties – as long as the creditors of Gesfimo approve the sale at a meeting this week.
The Central Criminal Investigation Court has given a favorable opinion to the Public Prosecutor's Office, concluding that there is no reason to oppose the Herdade da Comporta sale process.
The opinion read that the rules of transparency were observed during the various stages preceding the conclusion of the contract of sale between the parties and was necessary as 60% of the Herdade da Comporta Fund is owned by Rioforte, a shareholding that was seized by the Court in 2015, following the collapse of the Espiríto Group.
The environmental organisations claim the Comporta estate will end up being filled with ‘white elephants’ if it is sold to these real estate developers.
The NGOs have sent a letter to the Minister of the Environment, criticizing the sale of Herdade da Comporta which will transform "a vast agro-forestry space in a residential and tourist complex."
If this sale goes ahead, it would mean "giving private individuals crucial decision-making power for the environmental and social future of the territory,” the anti’s claim
They add that Caixa Geral de Depósitos could define environmental friendly criteria for the sale of the estate, "replacing a choice based solely on bid values for a choice based on environmental values," adding that the public bank, "is by far the main creditor of Gesfimo," the Real Estate Fund that put Herdade da Comporta up for sale.
This open letter is from Zero, Quercus, Associação Comporta Utopia, GEOTA, Alentejo Litoral pelo Ambiente and the League for the Protection of Nature all of which intend to be present when Gesfimo's creditors gather on Tuesday to approve the sale.
The Amorim-Vanguard proposal is to urbanize the Comporta estate, "to the maximum extent contemplated in legal diplomas enacted in 1993 and 2008," say the antis.
The urbanization of 744 hectares has two tourist development centers, as per the Regional Plan of the Alentejo Litoral (PROTALI), approved in 2008.
The Herdade da Comporta straddles the municipalities of Alcácer do Sal and Grândola with the planned tourist development centers located in the heart of a Natura 2000 zone classified by the European Union for its biodiversity.
