The development of a Quarteira to Vilamoura beachfront link will forcibly unite the two currently distinct tourist resorts and already has been commissioned by the two local councils with a completion date of less than a year.
The budget for the work is €3.67 million including VAT for work covering 17.7 hectares of beachfront, dune, parks, areas for pedestrians and cyclists, leisure facilities and an area for parking.
‘Passeio das Dunas’ will 'develop' an area known locally as the "Bairro dos Pescadores" which has a rather poor reputation and a high crime level. It is not known where the current Barrio residents will be moved to, or whether the councils see this as necessary.
The Quarteira parish president commented "For 30 years the Bairro dos Pescadores was a dense area of shacks, open sewers and everything else which in health terms was terrible. But we have reclassified the zone," said Telmo Pinto.
"Quarteira and Vilamoura will, with this project, be physically connected," said the Mayor of Loulé, Vítor Aleixo, who added that he believes the work will dispel the image that Vilamoura is dedicated to top quality tourism and that Quarteira receives a tourist of a “lesser quality.”
The project was designed with a philosophy of staying natural and the mayor promises there will be no large buildings of other structures that are out of keeping with the ‘Passeio das Dunas’ ethos of joining these areas together that have happily have been divided for years.
