Guarda, Portugal, March 14, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese parliament on Friday rejected a PAN motion for a resolution advocating the rejection of the expansion of the Alvarrões mine, in the north eastern district of Guarda, in view of its "potential adverse environmental, landscape, heritage and socio-economic impacts".
Presented by Inês Sousa Real, spokesperson and the only PAN (People-Animals-Nature) MP in parliament, the document was rejected with the votes against of Chega, PSD and CDS and the abstention of IL.
Sociedade Mineira Carolinos intends to extend the concession area of the Alvarrões mine, in the parishes of Gonçalo and Vela, in the district of Guarda, from the current 6.5 hectares to 32.6 hectares in order to mine feldspar and quartz for the production of ceramic paste.
The intention to extend the mining operation was the subject of an environmental impact study promoted by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which ended on 4 September 2024.
The project was contested by the local communities and by the municipality of Guarda, which issued an unfavourable opinion on the expansion of the Alvarrões mine in August of that year.
At the time, the mayor of Guarda, Sérgio Costa, considered that there were "inconsistencies" in the environmental impact assessment, such as "not mentioning that the area is in Geopark territory, that it is located in an Ecological Reserve area and that there is tourist potential in the recovery of some farms".
The mayor also said that the "environmental remediation" of the spaces exploited in that mining area, located in the south of the district, "has not been carried out, in addition to the impacts that this expansion could have on the water courses".
Presented in August 2024 and discussed on Thursday in parliament, PAN's draft resolution argued that it was "essential" to adopt the "necessary measures to ensure that the terms under which the current mining operations take place are monitored, particularly with regard to the adequacy of the size of the actual mining area in relation to the licensed mining area".
For Inês Sousa Real, it was also necessary to "guarantee the application of sanctions capable of restoring the legality of ongoing operations and the regeneration and requalification of the affected area, should any irregularities be detected in relation to what has been contracted and licensed".
"Parliament cannot remain indifferent to the terms under which operations are currently taking place there, nor to the expansion project currently [in August] under public consultation," the document added.
The PAN called on the government to use "all the legal mechanisms at its disposition" to prevent the expansion of the Alavrrões mine, given its potential adverse environmental, landscape, heritage and socio-economic impacts".
The PAN also warned of "the potential damage to reforestation projects underway in the area and the inconsistencies in the respective Mining Plan and Environmental Impact Study".
In return, it proposed that the government support and encourage "reforestation initiatives, the preservation of local biodiversity and environmental recovery in the Serra da Estrela, ensuring that these areas are protected from activities that could jeopardise their ecological integrity".
LYM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
