By CATHY MORRIS
A proposal to review future development plans for the Costa Vicentina on the west coast of the Algarve would limit the bed capacity to 2,600 for the entire area of the nature reserve.
The Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina (PNSACV), the body which operates the natural park, wants to impose tighter restrictions on development in the area, which incorporates part of the Vila do Bispo and Aljezur coastline.
The proposed revision is bound to have an effect on the projection by the Regional Development Commission(CCDR), which had said that a total of 4,750 tourist beds be allocated.
The plan by the CCDR has been submitted to Câmaras throughout the Algarve suggesting the increases in numbers of tourist beds for each borough (see the Algarve Resident edition Dec, 19).
Mayor of Vila do Bispo, Gilberto Viegas, has contested the proposal, saying: “It does not make sense for the park to define the regulation of bed numbers.”
Elidérico Viegas, director of the Association of Algarve Hotels and Resorts (AHETA), claimed that the reevaluation would “create unnecessary confusion”.
As well as limiting the number of beds, the PNSACV wants to establish further environmental restrictions.
Under its proposal, the protected area for wildlife would relate to Type II, which allows for construction of tourist accommodation no closer than two kilometres to the coast and has a protected border five kilometres long where no other hotels may be built.
The municipal assembly of Vila do Bispo has unanimously approved two motions opposing the regulation of the nature reserve, which have been put forth to various entities including Portugal’s President and the Government.
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