With plans to revitalise the area and promote the union between locals and foreign residents, José Manuel Fernandes is committed to making the life of its “fregueses” the best.

The Portugal News (TPN): Could you describe your political career until you got to the presidency of União de Freguesias de Lagoa e Carvoeiro?

José Manuel Fernandes (JMF): My political career started in 2012, when the former president of the União de Freguesias de Lagoa e Carvoeiro invited me to be part of his list, and I was part of the Assembleia de Freguesia for 12 years.

Later, after he finished his term, he couldn’t compete here in Lagoa, and he presented his candidature for União de Freguesias de Estômbar e Parchal. I wasn’t on the list to be president; another candidate left for professional and personal reasons, but he declined the invitation, and our president of the Lagoa municipality, Luís Encarnação, invited me, and I accepted. I accepted because it was a matter of ethics, and also a matter of believing in my potential, of being able to come and do some work that would be useful for the União de Freguesias de Lagoa and Carvoeiro. And I won the elections. I didn’t win the majority, but I won with enough votes.

TPN: União de Freguesias de Lagoa e Carvoeiro covers various touristic areas. Are there any measures to prevent any massification of this tourism, if you agree that it exists?

JMF: Those areas you mentioned, Benagil is a complicated one. It’s complicated because it’s an area referenced at the level of world tourism, where a lot of people come to see it, and then there’s the problem: it’s the canoes and the boats. Sometimes there is a lot of traffic, both in the climbs and in the descents, which we, the board, have already been alerted about this situation, but it’s not a competence of our board; it’s a competence of the Câmara Municipal, but we’re trying to minimise this impact, to see if we can give a breath of fresh air. But I think that, with calm and common sense, things can be normalised.

In Carvoeiro, we have a big difficulty, which is also the parking lot, a silo is being designed, which I think will be done soon, it’s not a simple work, it is an investment of many thousands of euros, which the municipality is studying, when it will eventually be possible to move forward with the work, there is already a study done, there are already approved situations, but these bureaucracies are a bit complicated, because we really need to have a car park, so the intention is to make a silo, which is meant to be placed in the municipal market.

Once again, it is out of our competence, because we have a small budget in relation to the Câmara Municipal, which monitors and is doing everything possible in this term to make this work possible.

TPN: For our readers to understand, what are the competences of the Junta de Freguesia and what are the competences of Câmara Municipal?

JMF: Currently, we are the supervisor of the bureaucracies, of the population, everything that comes to us from complaints, opinions or alerts, within our competence, because our competence at the moment is only the occupation of the public road and advertising. These are two things that we have in our competence. We can also deal with minor works, such as a hole in the road or a flowerbed that is damaged

Now, things of great involvement, at the level of making a road, for example, a parking lot, or a request for work, is no longer our competence. Our competence is very limited. So, our budget is not sufficient to make large works, because we do not have the monetary capacity.

Everything we receive and that falls under the Câmara Municipal’s competence, they have proved to be very flexible in listening to our opinions and in trying to help us.

Author: Câmara Municipal de Lagoa ;

TPN: The União de Freguesias has been working on providing activities for the elderly community in Carvoeiro and Lagoa. How important are the Centro Sénior in both localities to the population?

JMF: At a certain age, people tend to stay mostly at home, on their sofa; they become a little dependent, and mobility is not the same. If you walk on the street, you have to interact with other people, so it is a job that is done to motivate people to go there.

We have gymnastics and yoga classes; we play music; they spend time together; they play games. These spaces are day centres where people can interact with each other, which relieves tension with their friends and relatives, while elderly people can also interact with one another.

It is useful to gain friendships and new knowledge. We host walks, beach trips, and sometimes the parish organises trips to Fátima. The feedback is positive because it takes them out of their usual surroundings. Their children, unfortunately, may not have time to take care of their parents, so we have to find ways for them to coexist and interact with each other, which is important for their mobility and mental health.

TPN: Are there new plans you can mention about supporting the elderly in the União de Freguesias?

JMF: Yes, we are going to open a new centre in Lagoa, as we wanted to make some improvements on a centre with a bigger dimension, which is being renovated and might be opened by the end of August.

TPN: And regarding the foreign community? How does the União de Freguesias see and receive this community?

JMF: We are in Lagoa, where there are specific places where we know that we have a very large population of foreign residents, such as Carvoeiro, Porches and Ferragudo.

We are proud to have them living in Lagoa municipality; we like to treat them as part of us. We are also always ready to help them when, for example, they ask for proof of life, residence status, or family member status. We are always receptive to receiving them in our headquarters and explaining any situation. We even advise them on where to visit, for example.

TPN: Are there other future plans you would like to anticipate?

JMF: As per our manifesto, one of the things we already implemented was changing the benches around Auditório Carlos do Carmo, in Lagoa. We are going to have a youth centre in Carvoeiro; it is already being studied and will bring youth, a place to get together, access computers, and interact with games, all those things.

Another thing that was planned, but took its time, was to make a walking circuit from Lagoa to Carvoeiro, with wide sidewalks.

We are also trying to keep the town clean, which can be complicated in the summer, when the population doubles, especially in Carvoeiro. People put garbage anywhere; sometimes they place it under cars. Sometimes the ecological islands are empty, and people still put it beside them instead of in the bin. For that, awareness has to be raised so that people improve their behaviour.