"There was an injunction filed [in July]. The reason was because they considered the public consultation period too short. The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), with the help of Águas do Algarve, responded, and the Court ruled in favour of the APA," Maria da Graça Carvalho told Lusa.

The injunction was filed last July by associations linked to the Sustainable Water Platform, which challenged the duration and conditions of the public consultation on the Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project (RECAPE), alleging a "lack of transparency and insufficient time to analyse the documentation," considering it a "violation of the right to public participation."

Following the lawsuit, the Loulé Administrative Court ordered the suspension of the ongoing public consultation, and the APA challenged the injunction. The court ruling in favour of the APA, which Lusa had access to and signed by Judge Diogo Pereira Santos, states that the injunction was denied "due to a lack of instrumentality."

According to the Minister of Environment and Energy, this decision allows "the schedule defined for the project to be maintained," which is considered strategic for strengthening the region's water resilience.

Assurances

The Minister of Environment assured that the project will be completed within the expected timeframe: "The public consultation will be open. I think for two or three days. Then the final decision will be made based on the public consultation, and construction can begin immediately afterward."

"Congratulations to the work of the APA Agency and Águas do Algarve, who formulated their response to the precautionary measure well," concluded Maria da Graça Carvalho. The construction of the desalination plant, located in the municipality of Albufeira, is part of the Algarve Regional Water Efficiency Plan and represents an investment of over 100 million euros, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

The facility will have an initial production capacity of 16 million cubic meters of water per year, with the potential to be expanded to 24 million, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.