The Algarve branch of the PSD is calling on its own party’s national government to find a way out of the eight-year legal deadlock that has prevented major upgrades to the EN125 from going ahead in the eastern Algarve.
A motion approved by the PSD Algarve District Assembly in Faro on October 12 describes the situation surrounding the Algarve Litoral road subconcession as “unsustainable”, arguing that the region has effectively been left with two very different EN125s: a largely upgraded road in the western Algarve and unfinished or suspended interventions between Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António.
The appeal is directed at the government led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, adding an element of internal political pressure to the long-running dispute.
“The Algarve cannot continue divided between a renovated EN125 in the west and an abandoned road in the east,” said José Mendes Bota, president of the PSD Algarve District Assembly and first signatory of the motion.
“These are eight years of legal deadlock, lost opportunities and Algarve residents continuing to pay the price for the inability to resolve this problem.”
PSD points finger at Sócrates-era contract
While calling on the present government to act, PSD Algarve places responsibility for the origins of the problem firmly on the 2009 subconcession agreement signed during the Socialist government of José Sócrates.
The original Algarve Litoral contract between Estradas de Portugal and Rotas do Algarve Litoral was signed in April 2009. It was initially refused approval by the Court of Auditors, before a reformulated agreement signed in 2010 subsequently received clearance.
A further amendment agreed in 2017 was then refused approval by the Court of Auditors in June 2018, a decision later upheld on appeal.
“The Algarve is paying, almost two decades later, for the consequences of a badly conceived contract by José Sócrates’ government,” Mendes Bota said.
“It is unacceptable that mistakes from the past continue to compromise road safety, mobility and the development of the region.”
Arbitration drags on
The dispute subsequently moved to arbitration, with Rotas do Algarve Litoral launching proceedings against Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) in September 2019.
According to the PSD motion, the subconcessionaire is seeking around €445 million in compensation, while a banking consortium has submitted a further claim of €43 million.
The regional PSD says it is particularly unacceptable that the arbitration remains unresolved seven years later when, according to the contract, such proceedings were intended to be concluded within six months.
“A process that was supposed to resolve a dispute in six months cannot drag on for seven years,” Mendes Bota said.
“It is the denial of the very purpose of arbitration, which was created to avoid the delays of the ordinary courts. Justice that does not decide also has consequences: works that do not go ahead, communities that are harmed and an entire region left waiting.”
The dispute has also resulted in continuing costs for IP.
Official company documentation shows that IP paid just over €30 million following an interim arbitration decision in 2021 and was subsequently required to make monthly payments of around €1.26 million while awaiting a final ruling.
‘If Olhão was possible, others should be too’
PSD Algarve is therefore asking the PSD-led national government to explore exceptional legal or administrative solutions that would allow individual EN125 projects to be removed from the disputed subconcession on grounds of road safety and overriding public interest.
The party points to the Olhão bypass as proof that individual projects can be unlocked.
The bypass was removed from the scope of the subconcession following a 2023 government resolution and subsequently built directly by Infraestruturas de Portugal. The six-kilometre road opened to traffic in May this year following an investment of €14.4 million, financed through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
“If it was possible to find a solution for the Olhão bypass, solutions must be sought for the remaining works,” Mendes Bota said.
“We cannot remain hostage to an endless legal dispute. The public interest, people’s safety and the development of the Algarve must prevail.”