“This station is a necessity, not a luxury” – this is how Loulé Mayor Vítor Aleixo described the new GNR police station which was inaugurated in Almancil on Friday, February 14.
Representing a €1.2 million investment covered entirely by the Ministry of Internal Administration, the new station will provide “better conditions” for the police force working there as well as the local population.
It is located in a central area near the municipal stadium, market and the E.B.2/3 Prof. António de Sousa Agostinho school, is “easily accessible” and is equipped with a gym, dressing rooms and a victim interview room.
With a team of 26 agents (five more than before), the station will serve a local population of around 10,000 people, a number which “increases exponentially during the summer and festive seasons”.
“This station is an old dream that has come true. It is not a luxury but a real necessity, not only for the GNR agents but local residents as well,” said mayor Aleixo.
Stressing that Almancil is a culturally diverse town with a strong foreign community, he spoke about how it is viewed as a “safe destination that people can visit any time of the year”.
Also attending the inauguration ceremony was Minister for Internal Administration Eduardo Cabrita, who praised the local GNR force which had been doing their job “under difficult conditions” in recent years.
He also spoke of how Loulé is a “special borough, with a significant number of tourists” and how the parish of Almancil, in particular, has a strong foreign community and several of the region’s most luxurious resorts such as Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo.
The new station in Almancil was part of a larger €2.3 million investment in the borough, which also included the opening of GNR stations in Salir in 2017 and in Quarteira in 2019 as well as improvements to the station in Loulé.
The district command of the Algarve’s GNR police is also due to be relocated from Faro to Loulé.
In November 2018, when the decision was announced, Cabrita said that it did not make sense for the HQ to be sited in a town where the GNR do not have jurisdiction (Faro).
