“We have a constant increase in people in disadvantaged situations, with 744 cases of homelessness currently identified where the LEGOS project is developed”, a number that corresponds to half of the 16 municipalities in the Faro district, Fábio Simão explained to Lusa.

Of the municipalities covered by the project, which coincide with those that are the most populous in the region, Loulé is where the most cases have been identified: 159 (of which 141 live on the street, i.e. homeless), followed by Portimão, with 131 (116 homeless), from Albufeira, with 115 (104 homeless) and from Faro, with 107 (64 homeless).

In the municipality of Lagos, 97 cases of homeless people were identified (85 of which were homeless), in Olhão the teams identified 63 people were homeless, in Vila Real de Santo António 44 people (39 homeless) and Tavira 31 (15 homeless).

Fábio Simão explained that the project is being developed in the municipalities of the Algarve that already have Homeless Planning and Intervention Centers (NPISA), with homeless people being those who are in temporary accommodation and homeless people being those who live on the street.


Increase in house prices

According to the coordinator of that project for social inclusion, the main cause of the constant increase in people without shelter in housing has to do with the high cost of rent in the district of Faro.

Created in 2021 and coordinated by the Movement to Support AIDS Problems (MAPS), LEGOS was developed in partnership with the Drug Addicts Help Group (GATO), Homeless Support Center (CASA), Drug Addicts Support Group (GRATO) and Family Planning Association (APF), being financed by community funds.

“The objective of LEGOS is to work in a network with all partners and in municipalities with Homeless Planning and Intervention Centers (NPISA), to help the population who are at risk of social exclusion and homelessness”, highlighted Fábio Simão.

According to him, the “constant increase” in the homeless population in the Algarve has also been caused by reasons of family breakdown, drug and alcohol dependence, and migratory phenomena.

“We have seen an increase in the number of migrants arriving here in the Algarve, without receiving any type of response, and ending up in an unprotected situation and without a home”, he noted.

According to Fábio Simão, LEGOS “initially aimed to support 593 people, a number that was largely exceeded, having reached 1,134 people at the end of 2023”.


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