The Montargil reservoir, in the municipality of Ponte de Sor, Portalegre, in the Alentejo Region of Portugal, will now have three new fluvial beaches and services in the areas of water sports and nature tourism. The project has had an investment of 2.5 million euros and will be developed by Ponte de Sor Council, in the scope of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Valorization of Montargil’s lake, confirmed to Portuguese media the mayor, Hugo Hilário.
It was time for the lake to have a plan to promote the sustainable use of this resource, democratizing and ordering the access to the water plane and, at the same time, valuing and conserving the landscape
Hugo Hilário, Mayor of Ponte de Sor
According to the mayor, the strategy and action plan for this reservoir (albufeira), which provides will have a first phase to move forward on the ground by the end of this 2021. Hilário added that the investment will be supported by structural funds.
Along with the creation of the “Montargil” brand, the project will also include the construction of three river beaches in different areas of the reservoir, and whose locations have “different characteristics from each other”.
We are talking about three phases of implementation and the goal of the municipality is to have all the planned facilities built by the end of 2023 or early 2024
Hugo Hilário, Hugo Hilário, Mayor of Porte de Sor
The mayor pointed out that the city council had “expert support” for the preparation of the strategy and action plan. He added that the process has been overseen by entities, institutions and people within the county.
The wide participation of the community also aims to reconcile the traditional uses of the dam, from the production of energy to irrigation. This includes the new uses and the values that the reservoir has been acquiring in tourism and water sports
Hugo Hilário, Hugo Hilário, Mayor of Porte de Sor
The future beaches will be multifunctional with new sporting and recreational opportunities such as, for example, a cable park (an area for the practice of extreme water sports), walkways, picnic areas and spaces for motorhomes.
According to the mayor, the Montargil reservoir currently has several accesses to the banks and natural beaches but does not have a bathing area with support structures. The beaches will be built next to the Montargil Sailing and Canoeing Club, near the wall of the dam, and in the areas of Vale de Vilão and Foros do Mocho.
We intend to create attractive spaces with different valences according to the potential of each one and complementary to each other and all with conditions for bathing, sports and contact with nature
Hugo Hilário, Hugo Hilário, Mayor of Porte de Sor
The Montargil dam, which belongs to the hydrographic basin of the Tagus River, whose construction was completed in 1958, has a flooded area of 1,646 hectares and is equipped with a hydroelectric power plant.
