Faro, Portugal, Oct. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The environment minister said on Wednesday that the construction of the desalination plant in the Algarve "will go ahead", after the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Loulé rejected an injunction filed by environmental associations to suspend the process.
"There was an injunction that was filed [in July]. The reason was that they felt that the public consultation period was too short. The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), with the help of Águas do Algarve, responded, and the court ruled in APA's favour," Maria da Graça Carvalho told Lusa.
The injunction was filed last July by associations linked to the Sustainable Water Platform, which contested the duration and conditions of the public consultation of the Execution Project Environmental Compliance Report (RECAPE), alleging "lack of transparency and insufficient time to analyse the documentation", considering it a "violation of the right to citizen participation".
Following the action, the Administrative Court of Loulé ordered the suspension of the ongoing public consultation period, and APA contested the injunction.
The court decision in favour of the APA, to which Lusa had access and signed by Judge Diogo Pereira Santos, states that the injunction was dismissed "for lack of instrumentality".
According to the Minister for the Environment and Energy, this decision allows her to "maintain the timetable set for the work", which is considered strategic for strengthening the region's water resilience.
The Environment Minister assured that the work will be carried out within the deadlines set: "The public consultation will be open. I think for two or three days. Then there will be a final decision based on the public consultation and, immediately afterwards, work can begin."
"Congratulations to the work of the APA Agency and Águas do Algarve, who have formulated their response to the injunction well," concludes Maria da Graça Carvalho.
The construction of the desalination plant, located in the municipality of Albufeira, is part of the Algarve's Regional Water Efficiency Plan and represents an investment of over €100 million, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
The equipment will have an initial production capacity of 16 million cubic metres of water per year, which can be increased to 24 million, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
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