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The hotel will be unusual, as there are only two hotels in mines in the whole world, in Australia and in Poland, and it is only in the latter that the setting is a salt mine and a treatment and rehabilitation centre can also be found.

José Faria, president of the CCDR Algarve, said that it was not always easy to find projects with the power to attract investment, but this was one. He added that there was a crisis with traditional activities and the tourist aspect made it possible to get around the problem.

No date has yet been fixed for work to begin because no investors have yet come forward, but Seruca Emídio, president of the Loulé local authority, acknowledged that the project had potential and said that there would soon be people interested in making the investment.

The Grupo Lágrimas is, at present, the most likely candidate for getting the hotel concession, but there are others interested.

The total investment should be about 10 million euros, an amount which would be a candidate for EU funds under PROVERE – a NSRF initiative.

Loulé Municipality will be responsible for the infrastructure work and the road access to the project.

The Mina da Campina de Cima is used for extracting salt and has 38 kilometres of galleries, representing the biggest visitable underground space in Portugal.

source: http://www.algarveobserver.com