Hundreds of tourists are said to visit it every day but they need to watch their trouser legs: it’s not a jaunt for the faint-hearted. Praia da Rocha’s once-noble Fortaleza de Santa Catarina is daubed in graffiti, infested with mice and bugs, and heaving with rubbish. There is even rubbish in the lift-shaft – and, as one might expect, the lift has been out of order for a number of years.
“It is so sad to see such a beautiful place in this condition,” café owner Paulo Botaro told Correio da Manhã newspaper. Botaro’s little business operates within the fortress’ walls, and he actually pays rent to the tourism authority who told CM it is “still trying to find out who is responsible” for the property’s upkeep.
“It needs to be painted, and the lift-shaft is a real danger,” said Botaro. “It attracts a lot of mice.”
The lift was very important for people who found it hard to go down to the beach, he added.
Meantime, a new law published last week sheds some light on the mystery of the fortress’ owner. It used to fall under the domain of the Portimão ports authority – but now this has been merged, along with that of Faro, with the Sines ports administration.
Contacting Sines for information, CM only learnt of ongoing projects and investment planned to the tune of €14 million until 2018 – none of which mentioned anything about the ancient fortress, which belongs to the State.
The RTA (regional tourism authority) used to be responsible for some parts of the fortress, but its boss Desidério Silva told CM: “Responsibility can in no way be attributed to this entity, since it only managed parts of the building. We are liaising with the Finance Ministry and the Heritage Authority to find out which entity is responsible for the fortress.”
