A new €4 million nursery is opening in Alenquer today, 14 October, providing much-needed childcare places for families in the area.
By , in News, Learning · 14 Oct 2026, 16:03 · 0 Comments
The Creche das Fontainhas, located between Alenquer and Carregado, has space for 321 children up to the age of three.
But the opening has been a long time coming.
Although construction was completed around a year ago, the nursery remained closed while the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Alenquer waited for the necessary licences and approvals.
The delays involved several authorities, including Social Security and the platform managing Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Childcare capacity
Construction began in August 2023 on land provided by Alenquer Municipal Council.
The building itself cost approximately €2.8 million, with €2.5 million contributed through the PRR.
Inside, the nursery has 20 rooms, including four dedicated to babies from four months old, eight for younger toddlers and another eight for children aged two to three.
For parents trying to balance work and family life, the additional childcare capacity will be a welcome development.
The Santa Casa da Misericórdia says the new facility is intended to make early childhood care more accessible to families in the municipality.
After a lengthy wait, the nursery is finally ready to welcome its first children.
Kam Heskin is an American writer, journalist, presenter, and actress who spent 25 years in Los Angeles building an extensive career in front of the camera. Her credits include Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, playing the female lead, Paige Morgan, in three films in The Prince & Me franchise, and major roles in the NBC daytime dramas Sunset Beach and Passions. She has also appeared in various television series including Charmed, Angel, and CSI: NY.
A graduate in Communications and Political Science, Kam has always had a parallel interest in writing and storytelling. In Los Angeles, she contributed to luxury fashion and lifestyle magazine Genlux. Since moving to Portugal in 2022, she has written for Wherever magazine, where she was a columnist and social editor, creating and running Seen in the Algarve, the magazine’s social diary, for three years.
Today, Kam writes and creates video content for The Portugal News and also presents its online weather reports. Her work draws on decades of on-camera experience, a journalist’s curiosity and the perspective of an American building a life in Portugal. Away from the camera and keyboard, she can usually be found playing padel, exploring the Algarve or spending time with her two sons.
Kam Heskin
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