Loule voted European City of Sport 2015
The Algarve city of Loule has been voted ‘European City of Sport 2015′ and it hopes that this will allow it to stay on as the host of the Rally Portugal. This is the third time that a Portuguese time has won this award but it is the first time a city in the Algarve won it.
The decision hasn’t yet been made however, the new award will be gaining the town a 150,000 Euro boost to its coffers, always a good thing.
The award was announced last weekend by the president of the association of European Capitalist of Sport – Gian Francesco Lupatelli – when he visited Loule for a special ceremony at the Parque Municipal.
An elated Vitor Aleixo – mayor of Loule – said that the title is ‘an acknowledgement’ of all the hard work that has been put into by the municipality over the past years.
The borough features now 241 sports establishments – 137 of them being open to the public and on average they are used by about 50,000 people per month, according to the council; there are also plans to build even more football fields.
What happens to all of the other sports establishments that are not open to the public? Well the municipality is home to 55 clubs of 40 different sports, boasting a total of around 8,000 athletes.
The mayor is also hoping that this new title will be attracting more foreigners to the borough.
The ‘European Cities of Sport’ awards are given out to a total of 20 towns each year, which stand our for their commitment to developing sports and promoting healthy sporting habits all across the continent.
At the awarding ceremony that will take place on November 5 in Brussels Loule will be receiving a special ‘European City of Sport’ flag.
