“It will be the Group’s largest structure on the Iberian Peninsula and we are very interested in accommodating the project”, said Loulé Mayor Seruca Emídio in comments to Correio da Manhã this week.
IKEA representatives have already visited Loulé to hold a meeting with the Mayor, who has said he “hopes nothing emerges to ruin the deal”, as Spain has been suggested as an alternative.
“The Group already has a store in the area of Lisbon (Alfragide) and another in Seville and it is looking to fill the space between the two, which includes the Algarve, part of the Alentejo, and Huelva, with a possibility that the choice could fall in Spain”, Seruca Emidio said.
The suggested location in the Algarve is by the A22/Via do Infante access junction, near Loulé’s Parque das Cidades and stadium, but this is being contested by some as it could create traffic complications.
An alternative is in the old Unicer building in Quarteira.
However, the construction of Iberia’s largest IKEA store in the Algarve is not favoured by everyone. Eldérico Viegas, head of the Algarve Hotel and Tourist Resort Association AHETA is critical of the location as well as saying “it will not bring any added value to the region or to its main activity, which is tourism”.
