Almancil_en
Almancil is a showcase for the inequalities of the world.
With its back to the Atlantic, at the end of the N125 national road, is where so-called “normal life” happens: there are schools, parks, grocery stores, cafés and restaurants offering a variety of cuisines. The people you see are working class people who earn their living around here. They accuse the government of only remembering the Algarve when the sun shines. They complain of being pushed aside, “like the food you don’t like that you leave on the side of the plate”, Silvana (59, teaching assistant).
As we move away from the centre of the town, towards the beaches, the landscape changes: the buildings are replaced by luxury houses with swimming pools, men with visors are dotted around extensive golf courses, the poorly paved streets and roads give way to such impeccably cobbled streets, it’s hard to believe it’s real.
We are in Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, two of the most luxury resorts in Portugal, where the lingua franca is English and access is restricted.
The Algarve is the region of Portugal most affected by water shortages, and residents are urged to make individual efforts to reduce consumption. But Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo have the highest domestic daily average water consumption of mainland Portugal. Marketing teams in these places sell them as “among the most efficient”, but the numbers shared by the Water and Waste Regulatory Agency say that their consumption exceeds other Portuguese regions by hundreds of litres.
The Parish Mayor, Joaquim Pinto, is clear: “To understand Almancil you have to understand the two very different realities that co-exist here: the life of the rich, who needn’t leave the boundaries of Quinta do Lago to satisfy their every want or need, and the life of the poorest immigrants who live together with the people from here.”
“Right now, I don’t identify with any of them. Once in Government, they all end up making bad use of public money. It’s bad management.”
Ana, 51 years old, architect
“I always vote, except in the European elections. I only vote in the most important elections… at least that’s what you think: that the others are more important. But, perhaps, that’s not true, you know?”
Beta, 49 years old, butcher
“Why vote? It is really worth going to vote? I earn 700 euros, I pay 500 for the house, if it weren’t for my wife’s salary…”
Luís, 54 years old, early years teaching assistant
50%
More than half the population of Almancil didn’t vote in the 2021 local and presidential elections, nor in the 2019 European elections.
Source: Secretariat General Ministry of the Interior
“I vote for Chega because a friend told me what’s in their manifesto and I agree that the State can’t pay for people who don’t work. People have told me that André Ventura is racist, but, hey…”
Alex, 23 years old, painter
“I’ve lived in Almancil since I arrived from Bissau, in 1995. It’s a quiet place, I like living here. I’ve seen improvements since the Socialist Party got in power: bosses have started to pay our overtime, I got Portuguese nationality… I’ve always voted since becoming Portuguese. I think we should say what we think. We can’t stay quiet.”
Ermelinda, 61 years old, shopkeeper
“I stopped voting in the 1990s. I saw that the years of democracy hadn’t changed anything. We don’t have statesmen anymore. Kids study, but they don’t know what work is, theory is different to practice. They make laws that don’t respond to people’s needs. There’s no support for small and medium sized companies.”
Victor Jorge, 68 years old, businessman
29%
The percentage of inhabitants who work for themselves is higher than the average for Portuguese parishes (20%).
Source: Census 2021
“People who can buy new flats here are the Portuguese with parents who can help, people who bought a house years ago and now want to move on. Either that, or foreigners with money.”
Ana, 51 years old, architect
“I don’t really know about politics here. I was born in Portugal, but I’m Romanian. At home, we watch Romanian news, in Romania we’ve also got elections coming up in 2024.”
Diana, 21 years old, university student
22%
Percentage of foreign population living in Almancil. The majority are Romanian (24%) and British (20%).
Source: Census 2021
30
There are students of 30 different nationalities at the Dr. António de Sousa Agostinho school.
Source: Almancil Parish Council
“Communist ideology would be great if it weren’t for the reality of human character. I don’t agree at all that everyone should be given the same: someone who sleeps in doesn’t deserve the same as someone who gets up early to go to work.”
Ana, 51 years old, architect
“We work to survive. I only know the main parties: the Social Democratic Party, the Socialist Party and now Chega. I don’t know the name of any politician, only André Ventura, everyone talks about him. He says what people want to hear, but it’s just a smoke screen.”
Ricardo, 27 years old, shopkeeper
45%
Percentage of voters who didn’t vote in the 2024 parliamentary elections. Abstention was down 10% in comparison with the 2022 parliamentary elections. Chega received the most votes (30%).
Source: Secretariat General Ministry of the Interior
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