Spain 
Italy 
Greece 
Setúbal: Albarquel Fort Will Be Rebuilt
23 March 2018
In a public meeting, the Setúbal Municipal Council approved the draft of a contract that is expected to be signed with The Helen Hamlyn Trust. The agreement plans for the recuperation of the Albarquel Fort.
The charity, based in London, will finance the recuperation and restoration of the Albarquel Fort, up to a limit of 686,000 pounds sterling, or about 770,000 euros, under the arts patronage law and the English and Welsh laws.
The English foundation contracted a team of architects and a construction company specialising in the recovery of old properties in the area of Setúbal. They prepared the architectural project and will undertake the execution of the fort’s rehabilitation, which awaits final approval by the Setúbal Municipal Council.
The fort’s rehabilitation was halted for about a year for reasons related to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, which gave rise to “very complex restrictions on the outflow of funds” by English foundations, notably for countries outside the British Commonwealth.
After a “rigorous legal assessment of the Helen Hamlyn Trust’s support for the reconstruction of the Albarquel Fort,” the case has been concluded, and the final agreement between the parties has been forwarded to the local authority.
The contract stipulates that the Helen Hamlyn Trust is directly responsible for hiring the company that will execute the recovery of the fort. The municipality of Setúbal will supervise and monitor the works.
The Albarquel Fort, along with a plot of land measuring about 7,800 square meters, was ceded by the Portuguese State to the Setúbal Municipal Council, through a Certificate of Assignment and Acceptance that was granted on January 29, 2015, and which will remain in force for 32 years.
Albarquel will also be home to a luxury hotel
The Memorandum of Understanding highlights the “high-level of public interest in the recovery and rehabilitation of the Albarquel Fort,” since it would permit “the creation of a high-quality space for cultural and social use aimed at all citizens.” The document also highlights that the restoration of the locale could lead to “the rehabilitation of the entire surrounding area, in a continuation of public policies aimed at attracting and citizens to sea- and riverside areas in the great urban centres.”
The area close to the fort will also become home to a hotel that is to be developed by the Libertas Group, which acquired a 2-hectare plot of land near the Albarquel Fort for about 2 million euros in a state auction in April 2016. The land had been occupied by coastal artillery barracks for many years.
Original Story: Diário Imobiliário
Translation: Richard Turner