Portimão Council puts an embargo on the demolition of one of the oldest houses in Praia da Rocha

Portimão City Council announced yesterday, Thursday, November 7th, that an embargo has been put in place preventing to demolition of the Vivenda Compostela, located in Praia da Rocha, “in order to find alleged” opposition to the destruction of the building, which is regarded as being one of oldest in Praia da Rocha.

The municipality added in a press release that “following a review of the works in progress, ordered on the 5^th of November, doubts were raised as to whether the demolition would be in accordance with the approved project and its assumptions, facts which justified the embargo determined”.

The demolition of the old house, known as “Chalet Bivar”, or “house of the Count of Covilhã”, but actually called Vivenda Compostela, began last Monday, November 4th, causing a wave of contestation. The embargo is good news, but doesn’t mean much as a grand majority of the building has already been destroyed, and the once beautiful architectural heritage has been wrecked.

The house was built in the early twentieth century, on a cliff overlooking Praia da Rocha. This demolition took place to make way for the construction of a new house, and was officially authorized by the municipality back in 2011, and was initially licensed in 2013, when Manuel da Luz was mayor.

The current license dates from the 3^rd of December 2015 and is valid until 17^th December this year. It allows for the construction of a new building with an area of ??1196.90 square meters.

On Tuesday, in reaction to the controversy caused by the demolition of the house, Portimão Council announced that it will suspend the demolition in Praia da Rocha half way through, to “prevent similar actions” to the Vivenda Compostela.