Loulé council intends to buy the iconic Café Calcinha down the road from the market to ensure that the historic property will not be altered.
Deputy mayor Hugo Nunes compared the Loulé establishment to the Majestic Café in Oporto, albeit on a rather smaller scale and noted the café is famous for its association with poet António Aleixo
Café Calcinha opened in 1927 and according to the council, "it is a perfect replica of another one in Brazil" although it did not suggest any reason why this was relevant.
The council approved the acquisition in principle yesterday, using the curious argument that the café might suffer the same fate as the 100 year old Café Aliança in Faro which remains closed on safety grounds and lies forlorn and empty as legal wrangles continue.
Hugo Nunes does not want the site closed and does not want to explain why this might be a possibility. The council has been negotiating with the owner to buy the property in the expectation that it can be used to “boost the city centre.”
Nunes offered no reason why the site would be closed in the absence of council munificence nor whether the building had openly been offered for sale, nor why the council thought that its late entry into high street coffee sales was a sensible use of taxpayers' money.
The property unquestionably has cultural value; the moldings, wooden furniture, light fittings, shelving and photographs on the walls make this café a local treasure and of architectural interest. In architectural terms the building is Art Deco and is the only example that still exists in the city.
Once the property has been acquired by the council, it intends to study the possibility of using it for purposes other than it remaining as a café.
The acquisition of the property will be voted on at the next Loulé Municipal Assembly meeting on the 30th of April and the party in power may have a difficult time explaining to the opposition and local taxpayers why it thinks the role of the council should alter so as to enable its involvement in property development by the purchase of private buildings.
In a year when the heavily indebted council is meant to be using its scant resources in ‘combatting local poverty’ it will be interesting to see its budget for 'buying a local café.'
It would be simple for the current owner to offer the café for sale on the open market at an inflated price to deter buyers and then arrange a compliant council to buy the site, 'for the city' - not that anyone yet has suggested this is the case. It also would be simple for the council to insist that any new owner respects the interior of the building.
