Over 100 motorhomers had to find someplace else to stay following the closure of the busy car/motorhome park near Portimão Marina and the Tivoli Marina Hotel last weekend.
While locals have taken to Facebook group ‘Portimão Sempre’ to warn that the park’s closure could represent a “strong blow” to local commerce as motorhomers will seek other places to stay and spend their money, Portimão council spokesperson Pedro Poucochinho told us the park “did not have the conditions to be open”.
“The council had already unanimously decided to close the park in April but the owners refused to do so and were facing a process due to disobedience,” he told us.
However, the licences that the land’s owners had been granted have expired, Poucochinho said, and it was apparently their own decision to close the park’s doors over the weekend.
As he explained, the park lacked many basic facilities despite being used by hundreds of motorhomers.
It was managed by Encomar, which the Resident contacted for comment but did not answer our phone calls.
When questioned on whether Portimão will be affected by the closure of the park and the loss of motorhomers to other towns, the council spokesperson said that “both issues are unrelated”.
“There’s another park in Alvor that’s much better equipped to welcome these tourists. The issue here is that this one simply did not have the right conditions to function,” he told us.
The park is located right in front of Tivoli’s four-star Marina Hotel and has gained the reputation, at least among locals, of being something of an eyesore for the hotel’s management and visitors.
However, Tivoli spokesperson for the Algarve Henrique Pires said the group did not wish to comment.
