Portimão communist party members have spotted that the council is trying its best to sneak through the Quinta da Rocha development on the shores of the Ria de Alvor.
The communists argue that the project in question - two holiday villages, two 5-star hotels, a total of 300 beds on an area of just over 200 hectares - is slap bang in the middle of the Natura 2000 network and is a protected landscape along the shores of the Ria de Alvor, one of the most important ecosystems in the Algarve.
The public consultation period has been extended to February 20th as the first information giving session was poorly advertised by Portimão council.
Butwell Trading and Investment Services SA’s proposed development on the banks of the Ria de Alvor, is planned for land that the Court of Loulé already has decreed is 'restricted and should be returned to its natural state' and then should never ever be messed up again.
Butwell owns the land, is registered in the free zone of Madeira, and is a subsidiary of Imoholding which is owned by Aprígio dos Santos.
This court decision came after years of opposition by local environmental groups which witnessed the widescale destruction of the riverside environment in preparation for a development that only now is being applied for officially.
Environmental organisation A Rocha logged years of environmental destruction at the estate. After the successful final court hearing which stated that Ria de Alvor area must completely be restored to its original condition, the court also ordered the permanent suspension of activities in this protected area - for ever.
A Rocha said that the court order "was extremely important and could have a very significant impact on Portuguese environmental law for the future."
The man behind Butwell is Aprígio Santos who bought the Quinta da Rocha estate for €14 million and is keen to see a return but with a court ruling against any development and a local council under the spotlight as never before due to its recent history of corruption and waste, he will need government help to succeed.
The local communist party "always has expressed its opposition to the environmental destruction of the Ria de Alvor and it persists in defending the classification of the area as a Nature Reserve."
The party therefore calls on the people to "manifest by various means their indignation and protest against the passage of a bill that will destroy an important ecosystem and centre of life for many residents."
Indignation may not be enough, but environmentalists hope that the previous court ruling will be sufficient to stop Butwell in its tracks.
One thing is for sure, Portimão's mayor Isilda Gomes does not need the distraction of a battle at Quinta da Rocha, and battle there will be if the proposal looks like being approved at council level.
