Tag Archives: coastline
The Algarve coastline is planned to get a facelift
Even though there’s been this constant mantra-like line going about the Algarve in recent times of “there is no money”, it appears that the Algarve coastline is set to receive a major 5.4 million Euro face-lift as part of a whopping 200 million Euro that will be spent on the entire country’s coastline.
Ericeira residents fight old law
This is a bit farther north than we usually talk about but it can become relevant for the Algarve as well.
A group of property owners from Ericeira – north of Lisbon – is contesting an ancient law which concerns waterfront properties being transferred to the Portuguese State unless one can prove in court that the land has been in private hands for at least 150 years.
Now if you think a little back, we talked about a controversial ruling which obliges owners of property in waterfront locations – such as those along the entire Algarve coastline – considered by the State as ‘hydric land’ in the public domain, to prove the public ownership of said land for at least a century-and-a-half in court before January 1, 2014, or it would revert to the ownership of the state.
The properties affected by this ancient law are those located on land within fifty metres from the sea or clifftop edge and within thirty metres in the case of a riverbank.
In the case of Ericeira, it is a coastal town – like so many in Portugal – with a history that goes back many hundreds of years and clifftops lined with very old properties, but not that many legal documents proving the ownership for such a long period of time.
The Ericeira group was formed back in 2005 – when this old law was reviewed – and comprised of twenty property owners. The group is now made up of more than 80 owners who with the assistance of lawyers and historians, meet regularly to discuss their actions against this preposterous measure.
Earlier this year the group sent a formal letter to the Ministry of the Environment, which apparently has dismissed the subject by passing it onto the Secretary of State for the Environment and no satisfactory reply to the letter was ever received.
Several political groups have also contested the complexity of the process for property owners to legalize their situation, but haven’t really said anything about completely abolishing this old law.
A quick introduction to the Algarve
For those of you who are new to the knowledge of the existence of the Algarve, we thought to make an article right at the beginning of the year to start you off with a basic idea of what the region of the Algarve is all about, before you dive into some of our other articles about different destinations in the region.
We’ve talked about, and most likely we’ll continue to talk about the wonderful weather, beaches and culture of the Algarve in the future, but today we’ll focus on things that are less obvious, although just as popular once you get there.
Winter low-season in the Algarve
January has only started for a week, and most of Europe still has to go through at least two to three months of freezing to cold weather, and there are surely some who were not able to take a break from work for the end-of-year holidays but will want to do so soon, and that’s when the Algarve is primed and ready for their business.
There is a very well delineated difference between Algarve in the summer high-season and the winter low-season.
During the summer, at least half of Europe seems to shut down and run either for the mountains or for the coastline – and in the case of the Algarve, it seems like those who prefer the coastline all come here. This obviously means a spike in all prices and obviously very crowded resorts.
Algarve cuisine
The Algarve cuisine, as is the case with other gastronomies around the world, is heavily influenced by a mixture of factors such as geography, history and various cultural influences.
While most people will be familiar with the coastline of the Algarve and its many great beaches, there is much more to the region than just that. In fact the large majority of the Algarve is not made up of coastline, it is a landscape made up of rolling hills and valleys, all of which are dotted with almond, fig, olive and orange trees.
Portugal – Popular holiday destination for good reasons
Portugal is such a popular tourist destination for many reasons
One of the main reasons why Portugal is such a popular holiday destination is its absolutely wonderful climate. The average summer temperature hovers around thirty degrees Centigrade and while that may not sound like anything special since in the summertime it’s hot in most temperate zones and most of Europe.
