It seems as if the set of renovations planned for the Praia de Faro campsite will go ahead. The Loulé Administrative Court rejected the Protective Order presented by campers who have presided over the campsite in recent years, who belong to the Association of Praia de Faro Camping Users and Friends (AUAPCPF). This was announced today, the 11th of November, by Faro Council. The work was supposed to have started on October 1st, but the injunction forced a delay to its start.
This afternoon at a press conference, Rogerio Bacalhau, mayor of Faro, announced that the municipality wants to take possession of the campsite "on 25 November, in about two weeks".
"We learned today from our lawyer that the court has made a ruling, and that the decision has been entirely in our favour," the mayor said. "We will notify users to leave by the 25th of November, said Mr. Bacalhau, who assured: "we have nothing personal against the users" of the campsite.
In the meantime, he added, "We have already spoken to the contractor and hope to consign the work shortly thereafter." Then, "it should be six months of work, and we expect to have the park ready by the middle of next year."
As for the reasons given by the campers for not leaving the campsite, namely the fact that there are some individuals who have been at the campsite so long that they feel they can’t go anywhere else, as well as the alleged impossibility of removing some of the campervans from the site due to the bridge being too narrow.
The mayor guaranteed that those who feel they have nowhere else to go would receive municipal aid, explaining that “our social action services will follow that up. If there are any of these situations, it will be referenced and treated like all the others and, of course, we will take this into account.”
“But even if there is any case, it is certainly not a reason not to continue the process. People will be treated well and we want to solve all problems. But we also want to return that space to the population and have a campsite with rules, like everyone else, ” added the mayor of Faro.
As for the alleged difficulties in removing the camper vans, the municipality has stated that they will make themselves available to “help any and all users of Praia de Faro to resolve this situation,” adding that they will “provide technical services to make changes, but we have had some situations that have already occurred with the removal of some mobile homes from there, and we see that there is no impediment, unless they have to ask us for permission to pass the bridge.”
Mr. Bacalhau pointed out that “if someone needs business contacts and technical support from us, we have already done so in the recent past and we will continue to do so."
The mayor admitted at the press conference today that the campsite users' association may attempt to advance with more action in court, but "if action is taken, it is not suspensive." That is, even in this case, the renovations may take place.
So it seems that all is in place to advance with renovating the Praia de Faro campsite, the council have the law behind them and are ready to bring in the building contractors, all that remains is for the campers to leave by the 25th.
However, Luis Arsénio, president of AUAPCPF, contacted early today, has said that the association will not, for now, comment on the court's decision. "First, we will meet with our lawyer and then we will take a position," he claimed.
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