The BlueZ C Institute, Civis Cidadania, and PROBAAL, three regional environmental protection associations, announced in a statement that they requested the Loulé Administrative and Tax Court (TAF) on July 3rd to "alert the administration to the obvious: the Faro Marina's license expired years ago."

On that date, the group of associations filed "an administrative action" against the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR), asking "the judge to do what no one else seems willing to do: apply the law."

"At issue is the Environmental Impact Statement (DIA) issued in 2005 for the new Faro Marina project. According to the associations, the DIA expired in 2007 – eighteen years ago – and any attempt to revive it later is, at the very least, legally dubious," they stated.

The group of environmental associations also contests the Environmental Conformity Declaration of the Execution Project (DECAPE), which was "issued in 2016 and amended in 2021," because it is based "entirely on that same expired DIA."

For the associations, the project is a "house of cards, built on sand, within a natural park", because the Faro marina is planned for the area outside the city's current dock, an area within the Ria Formosa Natural Park.

The associations noted that the project envisages the construction of 277 boat slips, dredging, and the creation of a landfill platform, commercial areas, and buildings. However, they reject the idea that "an environmental report from 2005" can be considered "current as if nothing had happened in 20 years."

"(...) What is at stake is compliance with the law, namely the environmental impact assessment and the Ria Formosa Natural Park development plan," they explained.

The associations clarified that this action "seeks to have the DIA and DCAPE declared null and void" and urged the court to "intervene before the dredgers go into action."

The group noted that a preliminary injunction filed by the same plaintiffs on December 17th to "stop the start of construction work on the landfill that will create the marina" is still "pending a decision."

The associations announced on December 19, 2024, that they had filed a precautionary measure against the project due to "severe procedural irregularities" in the environmental impact assessment, which is approximately 20 years old and no longer reflects current scientific knowledge.

The project would also, according to the arguments presented in the precautionary measure, cause "irreparable losses" to the environmental values of the protected lagoon area of Ria Formosa, the three associations argued.

The plaintiffs at the time considered that the project "serves tourism and real estate interests" and could cause an "ecological disaster" in Ria Formosa, classified as a natural park since 1987.