Monte Clerigo Beach Action Group Launch Their Campaign

by Matt D’Arcy

THE FIGHT STILL GOES ON!

When we heard the news that Sebastião Teixeira had resigned we contacted Nuno to ask if this meant that the houses on Monte Clerigo were safe.

“Hardly!” was his rather disappointing reply.

He explained: “Sebastião Teixeira is both president of Algarve Environmental Agency and Polis Ria Formosa.

“He only resigned from Polis Ria Formosa which has nothing to do with Polis Southwest. So, unfortunately, this has nothing to do with his main job, which is leading the government agency that proposed the demolitions”.

(Please also read the Update at the foot of the page.)

The group formed recently to fight the proposed destruction of one of the Western Algarve’s most cherished seaside villages here in Aljezur plans to take their fight to the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon.

And they have also welcomed the imput of Amovate and its members into the campaign.

They believe the plans to bulldoze 38 buildings, including 35 homes, around the beach at Monte Clérigo are ill-conceived, unfair and unjustified, and will wipe out one of the most charming and picturesque villages in the region.

The plans have been drawn up by The Algarve’s Environment Agency and are aimed at managing land use of the region’s coastline between Odeceixe and Vilamoura, almost 40km of which lie in the municipality of Aljezur.

Monte Clérigo has been described as “a quaint and charming little seaside locale on the west coast, a beautiful spot that has an endearing charm far removed from the maelstrom of mass tourism.”

And the Associação Praia de Monte Clérigo (Monte Clérigo Beach Association) wants to keep it that way.

The Association was formed in July, and in August staged a protest alongside the beach, which was attended by more than 80 people.

It was also addressed by José Amarelinho the Mayor of Aljezur who is a leading member of the Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve (AMAL), an organisation comprising the mayors of coastal areas affected by the plan.

Nuno Barros, 33, President of this new Monte Clérigo Beach Association, told us: “We believe Monte Clerigo is an important regional heritage of Aljezur and the western Algarve, and that it makes sense to leave it exactly how it is.”

Nuno, a Lisbon-born marine biologist specialising in ornithology—his family roots are in Monte Clérigo and he now lives in Lagos—explained:

“A new government programme (POC-OV) for coastal management and zonation of the stretch of coastline between Odeceixe and Vilamoura came out for public consultation in June.

“This plan is proposed by APA, the Portuguese Environmental Agency. It is based on risk assessment modelled by computer, zoning and prioritising security buffer areas next to cliffs and dunes, and it included detailed plans of 93 beaches in western Algarve.

“But what concerns us is that the Monte Clérigo plan showed the demolition of 38 structures (35 of them private homes), and the destruction of only about 20 other structures (of which only two are private homes)—mainly unfinished, abandoned structures, illegal beach bars etc.—in the remaining 92 beaches for all the rest of the western Algarve.

“Some houses marked for destruction in Monte Clérigo are even located outside these so called buffer areas. It is random and does not make a lot of sense.

“The same buffer areas that, in Monte Clérigo, mark houses for demolition are replicated in the other 92 beaches.

“But in those they will leave untouched hundreds if not thousands of other houses and establishments that also fall within those buffer areas, sharing the same theoretical risks and conditions outlined by the programme itself. There is no equality.

“Places like Praia da Rocha, Armação de Pêra or Albufeira, are left intact inside the designated buffer zones, while they propose the demolition of nearly half of Monte Clérigo.

“There are thousands of houses in the same situation, close to cliffs or dunes, entire hotels hanging by some meters, throughout western Algarve, and yet almost two thirds of the demolitions proposed are in Monte Clérigo. WHY?”

Nuno has welcomed their new lines of communication with Amovate to keep the expat community aware of developments, saying: “I have come across some interesting initiatives promoted by you guys, and congratulate you for that”.

Nuno is well equipped to discuss the impact of change on the shoreline, having spent 10 years working in marine bird monitoring and conservation plus marine awareness and policy projects both in Portugal and abroad.

Last year he began his own business, Birdland, a local company focused on bird watching and wildlife tours and educating people about the need for an environmental conscience.

He went on: “Worryingly, these demolition proposals were defined without the knowledge of the Aljezur Camara.

“We find it unfair, unjustified, badly drawn up, random, and we demand explanations. We are fighting to preserve Monte Clérigo as it is; that is what we believe in, and we are afraid of what sweeping changes these plans may bring.”

***The Algarve’s Environment Agency is led by Sebastião Teixeira, who has been labelled ‘demolition man’ by the Algarve Daily News.

The Monte Clérigo campaigner went on: “Monte Clérigo is an official proper urban settlement, defined in the Aljezur Municipal zoning plan of 1995.

“There hasn´t been any urban expansion in Monte Clérigo in the last 30 years. Some of those houses have been here for more than 80 years, and belong to families whose ancestors built and shaped what Monte Clerigo is today through five generations.

“In an Algarve shaped by tourism, Monte Clérigo is unique, for it retains its identity. Locals and tourists value this and we all fear for what could come to the village if the houses go.

“We believe Monte Clerigo is an important regional heritage of Aljezur and Western Algarve, and that it makes sense to leave it exactly how it is—untouched and unspoilt.”

Summing up the current situation, Nuno explained: “As it stands now, the Portuguese Environment Agency is reviewing public opinion gathered in the public consultation process. So everything is on hold, until publication of a final plan, with no deadline. The Aljezur Camara, like us, has sent in their protest as well.

“The next steps will be for us in the Associação Praia de Monte Clérigo to make plans to speak to central government authorities and to raise the issue in parliament.

“Meanwhile we will keep spreading the word through the media and gathering more support, and we would certainly like all the foreign community to know what is going on.

“They are a part of Monte Clérigo too, and of Aljezur, and we would like them to join us in the fight to protect one of the jewels of the western Algarve.

“Our ultimate goal is that this final plan does not include the nonsense of those demolitions in Monte Clérigo”.

**The Association website is:

https://praiadomonteclerigo.wordpress.com/

Nuno has made information available in English on their website which can be accessed at:

https://praiadomonteclerigo.wordpress.com/english/.

And anyone wishing to join the Association should contact them through the contact details on their website or at:

praiadomonteclerigo@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/pelomonteclerigo/