Portimão Mayor, Isilda Gomes, praised the victory, saying it was due to the “extraordinary work of the city’s athletes, associations and the local council”.
Portimão had faced stiff competition from rival Cascais, but in the end the Algarve city took the title for 2019.
The decision was made and announced last Friday afternoon, and recognises Portimão as an example to be followed in terms of promoting sports for all.
In a statement, Portimão town hall said “the development of municipal programmes to encourage sport for the whole population, as well as its benefits in terms of health promotion, integration and education”, were some of the aspects that contributed towards the success of the city’s application.
“We submitted an application that many said was unlikely; an inspiring design that an entire community welcomed as their own, collaborating and participating in the application, which in due course was recognised by ACES Europe in electing Portimão as European City of Sport for the year 2019”, said Mayor Isilda Gomes.
She stressed that the council “will do everything to fulfil the purposes of our application, keeping the initial momentum well present, because we believe that sport can be the driving force of a city’s quality of life, namely through the generalisation of its practice by all ages and sexes and regardless of citizens’ living conditions”.
Thus, the mayor concluded, “the promise is that in Portimão we will have “More Sport for all!”
This victory is also an opportunity for the Municipality of Portimão to continue its commitment to improving the conditions for sports practice, not only for athletes but also for the general population, with key interventions in sports infrastructure, namely the construction of an athletics track and the completion of the Boavista Sports Pavillion.