Fossil fuels, seawater and tourism do not mix
“Many of your tourists come to the Algarve for the beaches and the sea. Your government shouldn’t think about giving concessions in your offshore areas to oil companies. It’s like they want to play Russian roulette with your environment and your economy”
The statement above was said to me in August 2014 by an American tourist when he heard about the proposed offshore drilling of the Algarve coastlines. And that statement has stayed with me because it kind of reflects what is currently happening. It is like the government has embarked on a game of Russian roulette. A game that is facing all of us that loves the Algarve, which have made it our home, invested in, or love to visit time and time again.
But does it need to be so?
No it does not! We trust that the government will stop this game that has the potential to destroy the livelihoods of over 400,000 local people, and the work done over the past years by many, in promoting the Algarve as a safe, fun and an exciting tourism destination.
This belief is supported by 22,346 individuals that have signed a letter and gave their voice, wrote 4,067 messages saying “NO to Oil and Gas” in the Algarve and by the 4,630 individuals that signed within 3 weeks the petition against the proposed exploration well off the Aljezur coast by the ENI/Galp consortium scheduled to begin on 1 July 2016 and which is now, in a mockery of a “public consultation phase”, being run by the DGRM.
These are 26,976 people voicing their views and opinions and saying please stop this Russian roulette game that you are playing! We all Say NO! “Nem UM Furo” … Nem Agora … Nem NO Futuro!
The purpose of this support document
In this document we aim to give you quick overview of some of the statistical information that we’ve extrapolated from data in Annexure 1 and from other support data. It is in a raw data format – but it already gives a glimpse of the potential negative economic impacts that this game of Russian roulette can have on our local economy while at the same time highlight the growing support against oil and gas exploration throughout the country.
Where do the people saying “NO” come from?
11,271 individuals come from all works of life, and are citizens of 111 countries that selected the Algarve as destination to visit, to invest or to reside. The balance of 11,074 is made up of Portuguese citizens spread all over Portugal (Tables 1, 2 and 3).
