“This is good news for the North. Once again, for the South, there is absolutely nothing new. We look forward to next summer”, said Rogério Bacalhau (PSD) to Lusa, in reaction to the presentation, on Wednesday, of the high-speed project to connect Lisbon to Porto and Porto to Vigo (Spain).

For the mayor “as a general rule, politicians, namely those in the central administration, only remember the Algarve in July and August”, and he repeated that the region “will have to wait for next year”.

“They are full of promises”, he said, listing some promises that were not fulfilled by the Government, such as the Special Recovery Plan for covid-19, the requalification of Estrada Nacional 125 or the electrification of the Algarve regional line that runs from Lagos to Vila Real de Santo António.

The mayor said that those who travel to the Algarve and “have decision-making capacity”, go by car “and not by train” and, therefore, “there are no major problems”, he joked.

Rogério Bacalhau criticized that, in order to meet the environmental goals of decarbonisation, there has been an increase in bus transport, which he considered to be a “nonsense”.

“Even the promise of a quick connection to the North, we will see if it is fulfilled”, concluded the mayor of the Algarve capital.