By DAISY SAMPSON [email protected]
Temporary summer nightspots in the Algarve have come under fire from local permanent nightclubs who believe that their existence is threatening the entire nightclub industry of the Algarve.
Associação de Discotecas do Sul e Algarve (ADSA), the association of discotheques of the south and Algarve, has issued an injunction against a temporary summer club in Vilamoura, questioning the legality of its licensing by Loulé Câmara.
The injunction, which was filed on August 5, refers to the category of the licensing of the temporary club Bliss, located at the Hipódromo in Vilamoura, and comes after the association has spoken out about temporary nightspots across the Algarve, including MEO Spot in Praia da Rocha and Manta Beach in Vila Real de Santo António.
A spokesman for ADSA said: “We denounce the existence of companies that only operate during the peak season with the consent and connivance of the authorities and the Câmara and which have no added value to the municipality. It can only serve to hurt those who work to contribute to the development and the creation of jobs in Loulé.
“This situation will lead to the closing of nightclubs. T-Clube, Trigonometria and Kadoc will have to close and will only be able to open in July and August and this will leave the Algarve without nightlife throughout the year and instead, only houses of prostitution.”
According to ADSA, the temporary nightspots in the Loulé municipality have been licensed under a category usually reserved for circuses and carousels.
“The licensing of Bliss nightclub shows disrespect for entrepreneurs in the municipality. It is truly scandalous that instead of promoting local entrepreneurs that the Câmara instead has adopted a policy of promoting seasonality and therefore unemployment in the legalised sector.
“All of these reasons will inevitably bring insolvency to legitimate businesses. We ask what laws, not to mention morals, allow this situation to continue,” said the ADSA spokesman.
The ADSA, which has members including Kadoc, Black Jack and T-Clube, has also lamented the cancellation of the White Night celebration in Loulé (see the Algarve Resident edition July 29).
“White Night has been cancelled and why, through lack of municipal funds? Here is further proof that by killing the local businesses for the benefit of corporations that do not pay taxes and fees, that inevitably the municipality suffers,” said the ADSA spokesman.
Meanwhile, the temporary nightclubs are also accused by ADSA and its members of creating unreasonable noise, pollution which they say is being blamed unfairly on their own businesses.
Custódio Guerreiro, the director of Kadoc, in response to a complaint against nose that was assumed to be coming from his club, said: “Kadoc has been in existence for more than 20 years and has never received any complaints about nose because all of our windows and walls were built to absorb noise.”
“Loulé Câmara has licensed a fully open air club, Bliss that lies along the river and is only metres away from Aldeia das Açoteias resort. These spaces, in addition to affecting businesses, also undermine tourism in the Algarve as well as the peace of the tourists here.”
Loulé Câmara president Seruca Emídio told Lusa news agency that he had “expected” the injunction from ADSA based on the actions of the association in the past few years.He said: “Every year ADSA present these actions however by the end of the summer they give up on this and never see it through to the end.”
The mayor also confirmed that the licensing of Bliss was legal. The Algarve Resident contacted Bliss for a comment but received no response at the time of going to press.
Do you have a view on this story? Please email Editor Inês Lopes at [email protected]
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