According to a source from the Ministry of the Environment: “Of the 49 buildings, 41 correspond to homes to be resettled by the municipality of Faro, in the Montenegro area, and eight correspond to buildings that are vacant, that is, unoccupied”.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, of the 41 households residing at the eastern and western ends of Praia de Faro, part of the Ancão Peninsula, 26 have submitted resettlement applications and 15 are in the application submission or evaluation phase.

Families who express a desire to leave their homes located in the Maritime Public Domain area will be resettled in homes that are scheduled to be completed by April, in a process that is being managed by Faro City Council.

There are currently 87 buildings at both ends of Praia de Faro, and it is expected that, with the removal of the 49 buildings, “38 homes and their respective family units will remain in these areas”.

Of the 49 buildings marked for demolition, 37 are located in the west core and 12 in the east core, and the date for the execution of the operation “will be coordinated with Faro City Council”, added the same source.

The project is budgeted at €1 million plus ICMS, with 62% of this amount earmarked for demolition and waste removal and the remainder for renaturalization.

Last week, the Government announced an investment of 20.2 million euros in priority works to protect the coast, a package that includes the renaturalisation of the Ancão Peninsula, through the removal of illegal constructions and the reinforcement of dune systems.

Demolitions in Ria Formosa as part of the Vilamoura – Vila Real de Santo António Coastal Development Plan (POOC) began in 2014 with the demolition of illegal buildings on the islets.

In 2015, the first demolitions took place on Praia de Faro, followed later, from 2017 onwards, by the Farol and Hangares areas, on Culatra Island, amid strong popular opposition.

In 2018, the demolition cycle on the barrier islands of Ria Formosa came to an end.

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