One of Portimao’s few buildings of historic interest, the Mirador de Santa Catarina in Praia da Rocha at the mouth of the Arade river, is visited by thousands of tourists each year but now is in an advanced state of disrepair and poses risks to visitors.
The famous and much-photographed fort that looks out over the Arade has hundreds of visitors every day in the summer season but now is all but abandoned and is an eyesore with a broken elevator full of garbage, attendant wildlife including rats and mice, and a real risk of someone falling down the elevator shaft.
"It's sad to see such a beautiful place end up like this. It needs to be repaired, painted and the elevator fixed as it is dangerous and the build up of rubbish attracts many rats," said Paul Botaro who runs the coffee shop within the fortress walls and who oays rent to the tourism authority,but not a single public body has assumed responsibility for the management of the fortress.
Desiderio Silva, the ubiquitous Algarve Tourism boss, commented "We are assessing with the Ministry of Finance and the Directorate of Heritage as to who owns the building."
This question was answered today with the publication in the Official Gazette of a new decree law covering the transfer of the ports of Faro and Portimão to newly created Port Authority of Sines and of the Algarve (APS).
The document makes it clear that this monument is now under the control of the new body but despite press enquiries today nobody wanted to explain how and when the site will be brought up to standard.
Pires de Lima’s Ministry of the Economy has announced that it is to invest €14 million in the Algarve ports by 2018. This investment does not cover historic buildings that are now within its remit. Over to you, Pires de Lima.
