A 700-bed hotel, plus an 18-hole golf course, is in the final stages of planning and authorisation at Silves Council.
The location is at Feitoria Fenícia, just west of the city and includes a long stretch of riverside along the Arade.
The Council is fully behind the project, signed off on May 27th, citing 300 jobs and and a €50 million spend as reasons for the project to be given the go-ahead.
The complex covers the Rocha Branca archaeological site that was trashed in the 1990s and includes sports facilities, a walk-way along the banks of the Arade and natural areas for birdwatching and environmental education, according to the promoters.
The Council already had signed an approval of the plan at a meeting back in March 2019 and the next stage is for a Strategic Environmental Assessment, which will include an opportunity for the public to comment.
The golf course plan came under strong criticism in 2014, when it was first proposed, with Quercus vociferous in its criticism, stating that “the golf course at Feitoria Fenícia will cause more destruction of agricultural land" and will affect significant Natura 2000 Network habitats on National Agricultural Reserve land.
The golf course project, without the hotel, received a favorable opinion on 15 December 2014, but with several conditions imposed including flood defences and the protection of the Phonecean and Roman remains, or what was left of them after the landowner sent in heavy machinery to destroy the archaeological structures when archaeologists started carefully to excavate the ancient trading post.
The landowners were ordered to pay a fine in compensation for the destruction of the archaeological remains, destruction so bad that the site was never classified as there was nothing much left to classify.
The Council notificartion and plans can be found HERE
