"Our opinion was unfavourable based on the analysis carried out by the Faculty of Science and Technology of the New University of Lisbon. This study, which we commissioned in order to assess the exact cost/benefit of this project, determined aspects that are very worrying and that led us to take this position," Fátima Fernandes, the mayor of Montalegre, told Lusa.

The negative opinion was unanimously approved at an extraordinary meeting of the municipality held on Monday.

The opposition PSD councillors voted in favour of the negative opinion, reinforcing their opposition to mining in the municipality and their concerns about agricultural, environmental and cultural heritage.

The public consultation on the Borralha mine began on 7 October and lasted until Monday, with 653 participations via the Participa portal. The project involves the underground exploitation of tungsten in a mining area that has been deactivated since 1986.

The final decision on the Environmental Impact Assessment will be taken by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and is scheduled for January 2026.

‘From analysing the EIA there are aspects that are very worrying, firstly the issue of the dangerous substances that are going to be used and which could have a very important impact on people's health, but also the issue of water and where it is supplied, which is not precise and which could put this important asset at risk,’ said the mayor.

Fátima Fernandes also listed concerns about the sustainability of the galleries, because “that territory, as a result of previous exploitation, has very deep galleries and there is a risk of subsidence".

The cleaning

Another important issue, in the mayor's opinion, was cleaning up the environmental liabilities left by the tungsten mining.

“But neither this cleaning nor this removal is presented in a comprehensive and total way, as was expected, and that could be a good counterpart, a good starting point, so to speak, for this project,” she said.

Fátima Fernandes concluded that the analysis of the EIA determined "these very negative aspects", so the opinion had to be unfavourable.

The mayor also said that the executive's position was only taken after the municipality received the definitive version of the analysis commissioned from Universidade Nova de Lisboa.