Portugal’s government has appointed former Algarve mayor and environment official Macário Correia to lead a newly created state company tasked with delivering one of the country’s largest water management programmes, as Lisbon steps up investment to confront drought risk and long-term climate pressures.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced that Correia will head Aqua SA, a public company established within the Águas de Portugal group to coordinate projects under the government’s “Água que Une” (“Water that Unites”) strategy.
It should be noted that former Algarve mayor Macário Correia has previously been at the centre of controversy after losing his elected mandate in 2013, following a court ruling over illegal urban planning decisions. Portugal’s Supreme Administrative Court upheld a judgment finding that, while serving as mayor, he had authorised several construction projects that violated regional land-use and coastal planning regulations.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting held at the Ovibeja agricultural fair in Beja, Alentejo, part of a broader effort to decentralise government meetings, Montenegro framed the appointment as a pragmatic move aimed at accelerating infrastructure delivery.
He praised Correia’s “executive capacity and technical knowledge”, highlighting his experience as a former secretary of state for the environment and as mayor of both Tavira and Faro. The prime minister suggested ministers should expect an assertive leadership style focused on speed and implementation.
“Anyone who knows him understands that from today ministers will have to respond quickly to his requests,” Montenegro said, adding that the government wants an administrative culture geared towards “solving problems and accelerating decisions”.
The creation of Aqua SA reflects growing concern over water security in Portugal, one of Europe’s countries most exposed to recurring droughts and uneven rainfall distribution. The government’s strategy aims to manage water resources across the country, ensuring supply in regions traditionally vulnerable to shortages, particularly in the Alentejo and Algarve regions.
Montenegro compared the initiative with the long-term strategic vision behind the Alqueva dam project, one of Portugal’s largest infrastructure investments. promoted in the 1990s by former premier Aníbal Cavaco Silva.
The Alqueva scheme of yore, he argued, demonstrated how political commitment could overcome decades of delay to deliver transformative regional development. The current government, a PSD/CDS-PP coalition, sees the “Água que Une” programme as a comparable national project designed to address structural water challenges.
Aqua SA will be responsible for coordinating implementation, construction and financing of infrastructure projects already under way. According to the PM, more than €1.5bn is currently being invested under the strategy, covering environmental resilience, dam construction, water supply systems, and irrigation infrastructure linked to agriculture.
Under the Portugal Transformation, Recovery and Resilience programme (PTRR), the government has already announced plans to build four new dams: Girabolhos, Alportel, Foupana and Ocreza, forming part of a broader effort to modernise water storage and distribution networks.
The announcement came during a thematic cabinet meeting dedicated to the primary sector, which Montenegro said the government intends to hold monthly in different regions of the country.
By choosing Ovibeja, one of Portugal’s largest agricultural fairs, the government sought to underline agriculture’s strategic importance to economic growth and territorial cohesion, whilst reinforcing the political message that water management will be central to future rural development.
The appointment of Correia and the launch of Aqua SA signal a shift towards more centralised coordination of water policy, an area increasingly shaped by climate change, demographic pressures and competing demands between urban consumption, tourism and farming.
As southern Europe faces intensifying climate variability, Portugal’s latest institutional reform suggests that water infrastructure is moving being regarded as a core pillar of national economic strategy.
Source: LUSA
