A quiet corner of the eastern Algarve may soon get formal protection from the kind of large-scale solar and wind development that has twice threatened it. At October's monthly market in Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, a proposal was unveiled for the Barrocais Local Protected Landscape (PPL), covering roughly 950 hectares of the Barrocal, the limestone backcountry that rises between the coast and the hills.
The push is the work of an unlikely coalition. PROBAAL, a volunteer group of local residents, has spent years opposing damaging projects in the area — most notably the Central Photovoltaica de Estói, which the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) rejected in August 2023 after it would have cleared 154 hectares of National Ecological Reserve land near Natura 2000 zones. In its ruling, the APA itself noted the area's natural value merited some form of protection. Since then, PROBAAL has teamed up with Udo and Claudia Schwarzer and the Mediterranean Gardening Association of Portugal (MGAP), which funded a full scientific study of the site.
The results justify the fuss. Surveys recorded 38% of Portugal's mammal species, 69% of its amphibians, 61% of its reptiles and 16% of its birds within the proposed boundary, plus nine threatened plant species — including the critically endangered Teucrium aristatum, found at only this one site in the country.
Tavira council, which had already opposed the solar scheme in 2023, is now investigating the creation of a Local Protected Landscape in the parish. Its mayor, Ana Paula Martins, received the scientific study at the market event, which also featured an exhibition of work by Landscape Architecture students from the University of the Algarve (Faro), who have been mapping the area and sketching ideas for public access. The day ended with a council-organised guided walk on Cerro do Leiria, covering traditional orchards, temporary ponds, invasive species and wildlife tracks.
Why should travellers care? The Barrocal is one of the Algarve's least-known and most rewarding walking areas — boulder-strewn slopes, old citrus and carob orchards, seasonal ponds and rich birdlife, a world away from the resort strip. If the PPL is adopted, this landscape stays that way, and a vote of Tavira's assembly will decide whether the project moves to its final stage. Local campaigners hope the move will set a template for neighbouring councils across the region.
Anyone visiting the eastern Algarve can already enjoy the area via the market town of Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo and the trails around Cerro do Leiria, with Tavira's historic centre and island beaches a short drive away.
