A road used by dozens of people every day near Dona Ana beach in Lagos is at “imminent risk of collapse”, according to local residents.
The road gives access to the Montana building, where most apartments are rented out for holidays.
The situation has been worsening in recent years due to the collapse of a nearby cliff which Lagos council and Portugal’s environmental agency (APA) “have done nothing about”, local resident Maria Trigoso told Lusa news agency.
Fearing the worst and outraged by the “lack of action by the authorities”, Trigoso went as far as to file a complaint at the local PSP station against the council and APA at the start of the year. But the case has been dropped and a notification from the PSP, “without any kind of explanation”, was sent to her.
Maria Trigoso said the issue was first raised five years ago and that the mayor at the time said that APA was responsible for carrying out the work and that the only “measure the council could undertake was to close down the road”.
However, the regional director of APA, José Pacheco, has told Lusa that it is the council who must draw up a project which would then require a geological study and approval from the environmental agency.
Pacheco recognises that the state of the road poses serious risks and said he raised the issue during a recent meeting with Lagos council.
“I was the one who brought it up as it wasn’t even part of our agenda. I visited the road and we (APA) are following this situation.”
Lagos council, however, says the responsibility of the works lies with the Ministry of the Environment and that any repairs will have to be carried out by environmental authorities, although it has offered to pay for the necessary studies.
But as authorities continue to push responsibility onto each other, the road remains a ‘ticking time bomb’ for anyone who uses it.
Cliff collapses at Albufeira’s Maria Luísa beach
Albufeira’s Maria Luísa beach has become the site of yet another rockfall, described as the second biggest rockfall of the year in the Algarve.
Sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning last week, a 12-metre cliff section came crumbling down onto the sand below. Around 2.5 tons of rocks are believed to have crashed down onto the beach.
This particular beach is especially susceptible to rockfalls, one of which tragically killed a family of five in August 2009.
Ever since, Albufeira council has tried to ensure beachgoers stay away from cliffs.
This summer, it handed out pamphlets advising beachgoers to avoid setting up camp near unstable areas, respect all warning signs, choose beaches with lifeguards and seek shade away from cliffs.
