The Municipality of Machico signed an agreement with the Regional Government of Madeira to enable new real estate developments and a marina intended for yachts and mega-yachts in the area of Forte de São João Baptista and the hillside of Misericórdia, near Queimada. The project foresees the creation of an exclusive luxury condominium, closing yet another stretch of Madeira's coastline to access by the local population.
The article describes a recurring pattern in Madeira's concrete policy: projects are invented to justify expenses, megalomaniac developments are built without adequate planning and, when they fail, new works emerge to conceal the previous failure. As examples of this cycle, Forum Machico, Madeira Tecnopolo and Cais 8 in Funchal are mentioned, which went from a docking project to a heliport, coastal protection and, finally, a venue for fairs and events.
The alliance between the municipality of Machico, controlled by the opposition, and the regional Executive demonstrates how pressure from real estate capital transcends party lines. The article criticizes that the discourse of "unblocking licensing" and attracting investment serves to convert the waterfront and natural heritage into spaces dedicated to elite tourism and speculation.
The author warns that the continuous transformation of the coastal landscape into a real estate asset threatens to destroy the regional identity and human scale of Madeira's coastline. The local population continues to be forgotten in favor of the interests of private developers and the mega-yacht segment.
