Boticas, Vila Real, Portugal, Aug. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The 2025 edition of the protest camp against lithium mining, which runs from Friday until Sunday in Covas do Barroso, Boticas, in northern Portugal, includes a street parade, testimonies and performances by local people focusing on the theme of justice.
“The camp is very important for us and for our struggle because it shows that we are not alone, that there are people in every corner of the country who also think that what is happening to us is an injustice,” said Nélson Gomes, president of the association Unidos em Defesa de (united in the defence of) Covas do Barroso (UDCB), in a statement.
But it also shows, he added, ‘that the village is united and willing to continue fighting for what is ours.’
The protest camp in defence of Barroso, which is being held for the fifth consecutive year, begins today and continues until Sunday in Covas do Barroso and Romaínho. It is in this area that the British company Savannah Resources wants to operate a lithium mine.
According to the organisers, the event brings together the local community, activists and environmental associations in an “act of protest against lithium mining projects in the region and the current energy transition model”.
The camp includes a march through the streets of the village, a protest at the Cruzeiro monument in the centre of Covas do Barroso, where slogans against mining will be chanted, moments of sharing with testimonies from residents and performances by locals, focusing on the theme of popular justice The event includes debates, concerts and shows.
"Covas do Barroso likes to welcome those who come in peace, and so it is a joy for us to welcome those who want to visit us and get to know us a little better. Our dream is that you will continue to visit us in the future, with this fight won," said Lúcia Mó, president of the Parish Council and member of the UDCB, who highlighted the "importance of the camp for the village's cause".
The fight against the Barroso mine has been going on since 2017 and has intensified in the last year, after the Ministry for the Environment granted Savannah an administrative easement in December 2024 allowing it to access the land for prospecting work.
Meanwhile, the company has requested a second administrative easement to expand drilling work in this area of the district of Boticas, in the region of Vila Real.
In its statement, the UDCB said that “the company has occupied private and unowned land without the consent of the local residents to carry out prospecting work”.
The association recalled that it has "repeatedly contested the legitimacy of this measure and denounced the continuing climate of surveillance, insecurity and intimidation in the village".
In this context of “outrage at the company’s abuses and the government’s collusion”, the protest camp in defence of Barroso is, according to the UDCB, a “moment to denounce the injustices committed against the residents of Covas do Barroso, to mobilise support and to raise funds for the association’s legal actions”.
The camp brings together hundreds of participants, non-governmental organisations and experts, and also aims to be a space for sharing experiences and “strengthening ties” with the local community.
The open-pit lithium mine obtained a conditional Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2023 and the company plans to start production in 2027.
The Barroso mine was considered a strategic project by the European Commission in March 2025, but has been contested locally by residents, local authorities and environmentalists.
In recent years, several demonstrations have been held and legal proceedings have been brought, among other actions to fight mining in this region.
PLI/AYLS // AYLS
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