The six Algarve business associations that took Ikea to court to try and halt the construction of its retail park near Loulé have decided to drop their claims.
“The Association of Trade and Services of the Algarve Region (ACRAL) has "dropped the legal action against IKEA, a decision backed by the other business associations in the Algarve involved in the same process.
“One of the first steps taken after the new president of ACRAL, Álvaro Viegas, took over was to meet the Ikea management and end the dispute between the parties that had been going on since 2011," reads an ACRAL statement.
The association noted that "since the beginning of the Ikea licensing process, ACRAL and several other business associations in the Algarve have tried in court to challenge the implementation of the project," but now, "as the licensing is concluded it does not make sense to continue the litigation."
"Ikea will be a reality - it's up to us to find the best strategies to turn this threat into an opportunity: the municipalities here have a good opportunity, together with ACRAL, to find solutions to attract many thousands of Ikea visitors to their cities," said Viegas in a refreshingly objective and sensible statement.
The measures filed in court had tried to halt the construction of the commercial complex and the Ikea store whose first stone was laid in August 2015 by the then Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas who described the investment of €200 million, as "one of the largest of this governemnt."
The Ikea store under construction near the Algarve Stadium is part of a complex that includes a shopping mall and a retail zone which will create about 3,000 jobs.
During the licensing process, three injunctions were lodged, the latest by ACRAL in July 2015, in concert with ANJE/Algarve, Associação de Empresários de Quarteira e Vilamoura, Associação de Hotéis e Empreendimentos Turísticos do Algarve (AHETA), Associação dos Industriais Hoteleiros e Similares do Algarve (AIHSA) and lastly, the Confederação de Empresários do Algarve (CEAL).
In 2011, four of the six associations had contested the urbanisation plan, but the court gave its assent to the intended location.
To enable the store to be built, Loulé council in 2013 approved the Caliços-Esteval Urbanisation Plan, which reclassified the land as urban, it previously had been National Agricultural Reserve.
As the development now is well on its way to being completed, the withdrawal of these various legal actions are welcomed and the action of Álvaro Viegas to be congratulated.
