The blame game has started in the Algarve as bitterness sweeps the region in the aftermath of losing the Portugal Rally to the north.
The opposition party in Loulé say that the mayor, Vítor Aleixo "did little or nothing" to keep the Portugal Rally on home territory.
Angered at the move, the Loulé councillors reckon "It was up to the main partners, public and private, to do everything to counter such attempts to move the Rally. And, incidentally, the Board of Loulé was the main partner for reasons that are well known. We should recognise that the mayor did little or nothing, beyond a press release showing support, but it did no good."
According to the PSD in Loulé, Vítor Aleixo “left half-way through the press conference to highlighted the Algarve as the best venue for the Rally, which left everyone stunned. He did not attend the official dinner where he was represented by the Vice President; he did not attend the official prize-giving ceremony and he did not speak directly to the Automobile Club of Portugal.”
The PSD councillors added for good measure that Victor Aleixo also has announced that there will be no Loulé ‘White Night’ in 2014 which also will have a negative impact on the local economy.
It was no better in Faro where the opposition blamed mayor Rogério Bacalhau for the loss of the Portugal Rally.
According to the Faro opposition, the President of the Automobile Club of Portugal Carlos Barbosa confirmed that the Mayor of Faro, who also heads the Associação de Municípios Faro-Loulé responsible for the Algarve Stadium, had "not submitted a proposal for the event and had never met with the ACP, thus demonstrating little interest."
The opposition councilors recently had proposed a new direction and management model for the Algarve Stadium, regretted that the major league football clubs will no longer use the facility and now hear that the Portugal Rally has followed the same path, leaving the expensive facility again unused and unable to earn an income to the benefit of the region.
Next it was the turn of Algarve Tourism chief, Desidério Silva, be to accused of a poor performance in retaining the Rally which brings between €80 million and €100 million to the Algarve region.
Silva, braving a press conference today, said that he did not lack commitment and that the Algarve Tourist Board had always shown a "willingness to take on the demands presented."
After ten consecutive Rallies in the Algarve and the Alentejo the president of the Automobile Club of Portugal, Carlos Barbosa, admitted that moving the Rally from the Algarve "is a loss for the region," but hinted at the real reason for the move as he commented that "the Algarve did nothing to keep us down there. We are grateful for the past help from the councils and Algarve Tourism, but they took us for granted."
Our old friend Elidérico Viegas from the Algarve hoteliers association did his fair share of lamenting and blamed the loss of the Rally on the President of Algarve Tourism - Desidério Silva.
Silva said he was "devastated" with the shift up north next year and expressed his "total availability to return to work with the Automobile Club de Portugal for the 2016 Rally."
Desidério Silva said that he had received an explanation from the organiser which indicated that the move was due to higher potential crowd numbers if the Rally was held in the north. Therefore, Silva rejected any criticism from the President of the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve, "We repudiate the statements of the President of AHETA, which we consider to have been made on his own behalf and not on behalf of his members."
In his trademark style, Silva then said that he hoped the Algarve would “receive compensation from the Portugal Tourist Board for the loss of the Rally, which will impact on the tourism economy and on the image of the Algarve.”
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