The municipal executive, chaired by Álvaro Araújo (PS), defended the legality of the process for the construction of 114 houses at controlled costs and guaranteed that it will forward all documentation to the Public Ministry (MP), claiming that the complaint presented by the opposition social democrat “has only political motivations”.

“What underpins this communication that the PSD makes to the Public Ministry are a set of facts that the PSD considered to be a set of strange facts”, said the social-democratic councillor, considering that “there are some legality issues that may not be being complied with ”.

Lusa confronted the president of the municipality with the complaint presented by the PSD and Álvaro Araújo said he was not aware of, nor had he been notified of, any legal proceedings, but added that he had asked the municipal services to send all the documentation to the MP, showing his availability to clarify any doubts.

“What we have here is a process that should make us all happy, which is the attempt to obtain housing at controlled costs for the middle class and young people in our municipality. This process is transparent and available for consultation”, assured the mayor.

Among the “strange” factors pointed out by the PSD is the fact that a company created with a “very small” share capital (100 euros) was chosen to build “a housing cluster of a very large size”, and that there was an opinion from the urban planning division signalling non-compliance with the Detailed Safeguard Plan for the Pombalino Center or that construction had begun without a license.

“Up until now, it seems to us that everything is normal, but then it gets a little strange because the president claims the competence of the process for himself, he no longer allows the process to go to the legal department for an opinion and, to resolve the issues raised by the technique, He asks another technician to report, who at the time wasn't even in the urban planning division. And then the president begins to dispatch the process, removing the technician who assessed it in the first phase and also removing the councilor from the matter”, he argued.

The president of the municipality recalled that the company in question (Ferreira) is building houses along the same lines in Faro, Portimão, and Loulé, and said he had consulted one of the technicians participating in the preparation of the Safeguard Plan for the Pombalino Center without any non-compliance being pointed out, justifying the fact that he brought the process to his attention with the need to speed it up, as it was financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

“As there is a whole process of urgency in carrying out the procedures because we have to have this entire process completed, from the PRR, by June 2026, I thought it would be good, in line with the vice-president, as it could not be otherwise, to call the process”, acknowledged the mayor, highlighting that it is a “very important project for the municipality”.

The mayor said he does not understand the “fight that the PSD is doing” and “the instrumentalization of some population” when what is at stake is housing at controlled costs for affordable rent for the middle class and young people.

“This is a clear attack that the PSD is making on the Local Housing Strategy because they know it will solve people's problems. What they are concluding is that ‘if these people manage to solve the housing problem in the municipality, we will never win elections in Vila Real again’ [de Santo António]”, he considered, remembering the “terrible management” and “the ruinous situation” of the municipality after 16 years of PSD majority.