Rogério Bacalhau explained that the process has been ongoing since 2012 and certain commitments between the council and Ikea, namely with regard to the acquisition of the land where the slip-road was to be built – which was bought with the company’s money but put in the council’s name – have already been made.
“That is what worries me because we have reached the end of the line and, therefore, Ikea could, inclusively, ask for compensation regarding the investments that it has already made in the council’s favour, even though they were also to complement the project,” he stressed.
The stretch in question would connect the A22 to Ikea for drivers on the Portimão-Faro side of the motorway, but the project also foresaw several other links outside Faro’s boundaries.
The council’s decision on the road, reached on Thursday, 19 March, is definitive because an audience with the interested parties has already been held and culminated in five votes against it from the opposition and three votes in favour from members of the executive municipal board.
The project had already been vetoed by the opposition in January.
At the time Socialist Councillor Paulo Neves told Lusa News Agency that the veto was intended as a caution for the council and to avoid possible claims for compensation should work on the road be considered illegal in the event that ongoing legal action against Ikea’s project reaches a conclusion that renders the shopping complex unfeasible.
The project includes an Ikea store, a traditional shopping area with 195 shops and a specialist shopping centre with 125 stores, as well as exterior parking for 1,819 vehicles and underground parking for 847 cars.