Plans for a long-awaited €6 million underground car park in Carvoeiro, part of the municipality of Lagoa, have taken a significant step forward, with the project expected to go out to public tender for construction early next year.
According to the Lagoa Informa newspaper, the project was unanimously approved at a Lagoa Municipal Council meeting last month, 11 August. The project must now be submitted to the Municipal Assembly before the public tendering process can begin.
The new facility is planned for the site of Carvoeiro’s existing municipal market and has been designed so that the market can continue operating alongside the new parking infrastructure.
The underground car park is expected to provide 312 parking spaces, significantly increasing capacity in what is one of the Algarve’s busiest tourist destinations, where finding a parking space can be difficult due to the town’s narrow streets and limited car parks.
The problem is particularly acute during the summer, when Carvoeiro’s population swells with visitors drawn to its beaches, bars, and restaurants. The compact nature of the town leaves relatively little space for additional parking, while its densely built-up centre makes traffic and parking particularly challenging at peak times. Drivers end up spending considerable time looking for a space, while cars parked in inappropriate locations can further restrict access and make it difficult for pedestrians to move safely walk along pavements
The project has been on the local political agenda for around decades, but has been repeatedly delayed. Over the past eight years alone, the plans have undergone several revisions and periods of reassessment.
Back in 2021, construction was expected to begin in 2022. At the time, Lagoa Mayor Luís Encarnação said: “Carvoeiro has a parking problem, as we all know. All the existing spaces are usually occupied, leading to cases of illegal parking and forcing pedestrians off the pavement and into the road.”
The current project represents an investment of approximately €6 million, based on the revised proposal approved in July 2025.
Mayor Luís Encarnação has previously told Municipal Assembly meetings that the council intends to finance the development through a bank loan, arguing that this would allow the investment to proceed without destabilising the municipality’s finances. The proposal is understood to have received the backing of opposition representatives.
Asked by Lagoa Informa for further details, Encarnação and Deputy Mayor Ruben Palma declined to comment until the process has progressed further.
They said only that the municipality was “making every effort to ensure that the Praia do Carvoeiro car park becomes a reality”.
Source: Lagoa Informa
