"Coimbra chose Coldplay, now, as long as we have contracts with Figueira, we will keep them", said Carlos Barbosa to journalists, referring to the choice made by the municipality of Coimbra, in 2023, to invest in four concerts by the British band, instead of keeping the super special of the Portuguese round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), which was held there in 2022. In statements, in Figueira da Foz, on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of the contracts with the six municipalities in the Centro region that host the Rally of Portugal (Arganil, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Góis, Lousã and Mortágua) and with the regional tourism entity, Carlos Barbosa also addressed the changes to the route of the rally's opening super special -- scheduled for 7:05 pm on May 9 in the riverside area of that city -- arguing that "it is a very nice route this year". "The route of the Figueira da Foz super special will be more lively this year, last year it had many straights and little spectacularity for the public. This year it will have much more spectacle for the public, with more areas that [the drivers] have to go around (...) the Figueira da Foz area will be much more attractive this year and I hope that people will flock to it", emphasized the president of the ACP. Heard by Lusa, the councilor responsible for Sports in the municipality of Figueira da Foz, Manuel Domingues -- who had previously alluded to the changes in the layout of the super special, namely the placement of three roundabouts inside the so-called Gaivotas car park and the relocation of the jump to Avenida de Espanha -- said that all public access to the route will be closed and paid for. Thus, in addition to the four stands available to the public, whose tickets cost 30 euros per person (15 euros for children between 8 and 14 years old and free from 3 to 7 years old, although without the right to a seat), there will be a pedestrian ticket, around the 2.94 kilometer circuit, with a unit cost of 10 euros (05 euros for children). On the occasion, the president of the ACP considered the Centro region as "fundamental" for the Rally of Portugal, and noted the "exceptional support" given by the municipalities to the Portuguese round of the World Rally Championship, both financially and in terms of logistics and construction and repair of the dirt sections, eight, covered twice, in Mortágua, Lousã, Góis and Arganil, on May 10. "We are very happy and we will obviously remain in the Centro region", observed the top official of the ACP. If the terms of the contracts signed today between the six municipalities, Turismo Centro de Portugal and the ACP were not made public, the Lusa agency compiled the value of the financial support provided to the Rally of Portugal by each municipality in the Centro region, concluding that the four smaller municipalities with dirt sections in their territory invest, each one, less than Figueira da Foz or Coimbra. Thus, the district capital, which hosts the ceremonial start of the rally (scheduled for 5 pm on May 9), invests 224 thousand euros, a value that in Figueira da Foz amounts to 300 thousand euros, although the amount collected by the super special ticket office, which in 2023 amounted to 67 thousand euros, reverts to the municipality. The remaining four municipalities invest, in total, 325 thousand euros -- Arganil 110 thousand, Mortágua 100 thousand, Lousã 65 thousand and Góis 50 thousand -- to which are added another 200 thousand euros from Turismo Centro de Portugal, that is, a total of financial support exceeding one million euros.