High tension rears its ugly head again

One of the eastern Algarve’s most idyllic rural retreats, a mountainous range eight kilometres north of Stª Catarina de Fonte do Bispo (Tavira) which is affectionately known to locals as ‘the cloud factory’ and comprises a cluster of unspoilt villages, is under threat of being invaded by two large-scale energy projects that are causing residents to unite in uproar, and who are promising to go to all lengths at their disposal to ensure the projects do not follow the proposed route.

The quaint villages of Malhada do Judeu, Água de Tábuas and Aporfiosa could all be affected by the two reportedly ‘massive’ projects, which will see the installation of High Tension (HT) cables and pylons as well as a wind turbine farm.

News of these projects broke last year and caused immediate unease within the normally tranquil hub, which despite comprising fewer than two dozen properties with full time and part time residents, is home to a variety of nationalities and families, young and old.

Residents this week claimed they were not officially informed of these projects or of a public consultation phase, which they say they found out about “purely by chance just prior to its closure date”, nor were they reportedly told of the subsequent alleged approval of one of two proposed routes for the HT network.

Immediately a protest campaign was launched, resulting in a petition comprising 853 signatures, 165 official forms and an additional petition with 43 signatures opposing the proposed HT lines. These documents were all submitted to Tavira City Hall, the Ministry of the Environment, to the State Secretary for the Environment and the local Parish Council.

To date, this action has reportedly been “completely ignored”, leaving the despairing residents “furious”.

Should the planned projects go ahead they will entail a series of unsightly HT pylons, measuring up to 50 metres in height, as well as the installation of three wind turbines, each measuring 80 metres in height, one of which is believed to be positioned just 200 metres from the high voltage cables.

Health, noise and aesthetics aside, residents fear these proposed plans will not only “devastate property values” in this region, rendering them unsellable in an already shaky market, but they will also deter prospective visitors to the region, as a consequence a plan for 22 properties to be developed there are, from the offset, practically worthless.

Furthermore, given the location’s geographical position, which for most of the winter months is enveloped in mist, it boasts a unique micro-climate that nurses a native flora, an unusual moss, and lichens that are likely to be disturbed by the work and heavy machinery involved.

As a matter of urgency a Residents’ Committee has been formed and according to one of the organisers, they will “stop at nothing to protect homes, livelihoods and investments”.

A letter from the Committee was sent this week to the State Secretary for the Environment, the Minister for the Environment, the Minister of the Economy, the Mayor of Tavira and the President of national energy company REN.

In the document, to which The Portugal News had prior access, the residents said they wanted to “make it clear” that they would “do everything necessary to safeguard our livelihoods, our properties, and the future economic stability of this rare and beautiful corner of Portugal”.

According to the residents, they will be taking their protest to Lisbon, where they will be demanding an audience at the head offices of REN, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of the Economy, “who to date seem determined to ignore our protests and desecrate our environment”.

A large number of campaign posters were printed this week, which the community will be displaying along the proposed route of the High Tension pylons.

But even though they are feeling “snowed under with the threat of massive infrastructures going up around us”, the residents are adamant in stopping at nothing to eliminate this threat.

Toby Jarvis, a British-expat and permanent resident in Aporfiosa with his wife and one-year-old daughter, told The Portugal News this week, “Our dream of an ecologically sustainable, creative tourist development in Aporfiosa is shattered. With the Government’s talk of sustainable investment in the Algarve we are amazed at the complete contradiction in policy. No-one will tell us why our protests have been ignored and no-one is talking about compensation. It will definitely make people think twice about investing in rural areas”.

In previous years, two identical, high-profile cases in the Algarve made national and international headlines with High Tension network proposals for the districts of Monchique and Silves being successfully thwarted thanks to the action of locals. Both routes were altered following pressure from residents, who had the added support of their respective City Halls behind them.

After contacting Tavira City Hall, Mayor Macário Correia said in response to the issue “as nothing is as yet definite I do not want to comment on the matter”.

Another source from Tavira City Hall told The Portugal News that a letter in the name of Mr. Jarvis has been received in April 2008, though could not confirm whether or not the document in question was the petition.