"This is a matter that the president of the APA is aware of and is monitoring, and very soon a date and a solution, which is the demolition [of the structure], will be given", the minister told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to Terras de Bouro, in the district of Braga, adding that this matter is the "responsibility of the APA" and not of the ministry.

The promoter of the Grand Beach Club on Ourigo beach, in Porto, is claiming compensation of over 1.7 million euros from the APA, due to the losses caused and the execution of a new project.

The beach support structure, which had positive opinions from all the entities involved, namely the APA, the Administration of the Ports of Douro, Leixões and Viana do Castelo (APDL) and the Regional Directorate of Culture of the North, was under construction when, in May 2021, the then Minister of Climate Action, João Pedro Matos Fernandes, announced its demolition following the controversy and contestation generated by the fact that it was a concrete structure on the sand.

Almost two years later, in March 2023, the Porto City Council announced the approval of a new architectural project for the construction of the Grand Beach Club, presented by the promoter, after a favourable opinion from the APA.

After this announcement and still in that month, that is, more than a year ago, the promoter of the Grand Beach Club sent a letter to the APA, to which the Lusa agency had access, claiming compensatory compensation of over 1.7 million euros.

Asked today if there is any openness on the part of the Government to compensate the promoters for the losses caused, the Minister of the Environment and Energy replied: "we are analysing".

In February, Lusa had questioned the Ministry of the Environment about the status of this process and whether it would assume the payment of the compensatory compensation, but the ministry referred, on that occasion, to the APA's response, which only "clarified that it had initiated a contractual procedure for the removal of the concrete structure from Ourigo beach".

The promoter company stresses that it has "the loss related to the cost of the building intended for demolition, the cost of demolishing it, the cost of reformulating the architectural and decoration projects", to which is added "the loss resulting from the delay in the start of the concession's operation".

The promoter claims 600 thousand euros for the "construction costs of the building ordered to be demolished", 140 thousand euros for the costs of demolishing the concrete structure, 20 thousand euros due to "legal advice imposed by the embargo and the demolition order", 73 thousand euros for the reformulation of the architectural project and 36 thousand euros for costs associated with the reformulation of the decoration project.

In addition to these amounts, the promoter claims 883 thousand euros "resulting from the three and a half year delay in the start of the concession's operation".

"Now, as it will not be difficult to understand, the viability of the [new] project that is being considered presupposes the compensation for the aforementioned losses which, in any case, would always be unquestionably due", states the letter.

The promoter assumes availability, "in a spirit of collaboration", to reach an understanding with the APA regarding the overall amount of the compensatory compensation.

"In this context, we are available for the losses arising from the loss of the aforementioned three and a half years of activity to be mitigated with the extension of the concession period and with the exemption from the payment of rents for a period considered appropriate", admit the investors, demanding, however, the "full" payment of the remaining amounts presented.

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