Monday, July 22, 2013

Now you see it, now you don't

Now you see it...


Algarve hill -layers exposed
It was already only half a hill...

... now you don't!


Algarve hill -flattened
Disappearing hill?
The hill is going, going, gone!

I imagine that originally the hill that has now almost completely disappeared might have looked like the one in the picture below (in the distance) but I can't be sure. If anyone has some old photos, I'd love to see them.

Algarve landscape after clay extraction
Still there: the other end of the disappearing hill - much of it had already gone into the making of bricks
When I took these photos, some vegetation was beginning to cover the ugliness of the bare ground after the extraction of clay for the brick factory across the road.

Recently there was talk of building a theme park in this area but that project was taken to Spain. Now the bulldozers have flattened the land on both sides of the road and a monster depot for a chain of supermarkets is going up next to the brick factory.
Pingo Doce depot
View from the Guia-Algoz road
How will it look when completed?

Pingo Doce Algarve depot
View from Algoz - another small hill gone
I don't think it will improve the views from the village of Algoz. It has already changed the landscape by obliterating two little hills. I'm  hoping it will make up for that by creating some jobs and helping the local economy. I'll be posting updates in the near future.


6 comments:

  1. Rests the consolation that the development might bring some jobs, first in the construction and then in retail. Otherwise it's a pity that the landscape has had such a radical change...

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  2. And they call this progress!

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  3. Sad when we see the landscape marred with progress.

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  4. Thank you all for your comments. So far the only consolation I can see is that it isn't a pollution-spitting plant.

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  5. That's a graphic reminder of the cost of progress, if the new buildings and jobs they bring are truly progress. Sometimes it's hard to know.

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