Proposal submitted for new Portugal to Spain bridge

Earlier this week, the Algarve’s Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) handed over the proposal to the Spanish entities,  for the construction of the bridge between Alcoutim (Algarve) and Sanlúcar de Guadiana (Spain), a project financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

“This is a proposal, agreed between the municipalities on both sides of the border, for the definition of the guidelines associated with a bridge, that will allow the construction of the international road bridge within the funding of nine million euros, provided for by the Government in the Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PRR)”, said the president, José Apolinário, of CCDR/Algarve.

According to José Apolinário, the document for the construction of the road bridge between the Algarve and Andalusia was presented on Wednesday to the Spanish entities of the Diputación de Huelva, Junta de Andalucia and the sub-delegate of the Spanish Government in Huelva, “to obtain cooperation for the technical solutions of the project”.

“We are talking about geological and geotechnical studies, topographic survey, weighing up all effects to the environment, heritage and nature on both sides of the border and ensuring the navigability of sailing vessels to the municipality of Mértola (in the district of Beja)”, he said.

According to the president of CCDR/Algarve, a regional entity that technically supports and monitors the work within the scope of the PRR, “these are preliminary and necessary studies before moving on to the environmental impact study” of the proposed corridor, to be just north of Alcoutim and of Sanlúcar de Guadiana.

According to the official, the Portuguese and Spanish entities agreed to meet monthly to discuss the project’s developments, “essential for the development of the two border regions and to ensure that it remains environmentally sustainable”.

The road bridge, which will reduce the current connection between Alcoutim and Sanlúcar de Guadiana by around 70 kilometres, has been discussed for over two decades by the populations on both sides of the border.

According to the contract signed under the PRR between the Recuperar Portugal Mission Structure, CCDR/Algarve and the municipality of Alcoutim, the tender for the execution project should be launched in the first quarter of 2022, with the contract running until third quarter of 2024 and completion of the work by 2026.

The Portuguese Plan of Recovery and Resilience, which received the ‘green light’ from the Commission on 13th June and was formally approved by the Ecofin Council exactly one month later, has a global value of 16.6 billion euros, namely 13.9 billion euros in non-repayable grants and €2.7 billion for soft loans.

Original article available in Portuguese at http://postal.pt/