The alteration of the PDM (municipal development plan), that led to a rapid increase in licensing of real estate and touristic projects, was pushed through without proper evaluation and without consulting the local population about the structural changes taking place in the municipality. As such, effective, integrated planning which respects the environment becomes impossible.
The consequences of boundless construction (already noticeable) are ignored in the pursuit of reckless profit.
Developments such as golf courses, hotels with hundreds of beds and swimming pools everywhere, are an attack on the biodiversity of the region and are going to aggravate the local water problems.
Moreover the infrastructure of the municipality cannot keep up, refuse collection, and basic sanitation regularly fall short. Now when we do not yet have many thousands of tourists in the municipality of Grândola we already detect shortages in daily basic necessities, what will the future bring?
Moving from a mainly agricultural economy to one of mass leisure tourism is going to radically alter the character of the region. The municipality of Grândola does not have sufficient labour to handle such a large influx of tourists. The resort developers indicate they will overcome this by bringing in outside workers. This in turn puts more pressure on the local infrastructure (housing, schooling, healthcare etc).
The increase in property prices, both purchase and rental, has been substantial. The local population is either under pressure to find a home or nurturing unrealistic expectations of capital gains. Many are being forced away from the villages where they were born and their properties are being taken over by a faceless tourism with the consequent loss of the unique character of the region.
Proteger Grândola – Associação de Defesa do Ambiente is in favour of a strategy of sustainable development, which is economically and ecologically viable and which contributes to the wellbeing and quality of life of the population without upsetting the distinctive character of the region.
