The Inatel Foundation plans to build a hotel in Santa Maria da Feira, on the site of a former social welfare office, from 2026, where it will work for refugees and receive exiles, the institution’s president told Lusa on Tuesday.
Created in 1935 as the National Foundation for Joy at Work (FNAT), the INATEL Foundation, which today is under the control of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, develops activities to increase leisure time in the fields of social tourism, popular culture and amateur sports. , with a deep concern for humanity and high standards of excellence, its website states.
Present throughout the country with a network of 27 establishments, 17 hotel rooms, a play park, several sports pavilions and the Teatro da Trindade in Lisbon, the institution, according to its president Francisco Madelino, also has a history of social support, for example, “1.2 million Portuguese welcomed by the former colonies during decolonization.”
“The idea is to create an integrative hotel with social functions that brings together normal audiences of different nationalities, but also other differences, and where they can coexist with people who normally live, but where they can also be political exiles. “, he described the person in charge of the fund.
However, he added, the project also aims to reach other audiences and includes “artistic residences” “built with innovative architecture and a focus on environmental sustainability.”
At the stage of creating “social innovation funds”, this search, Francisco Madelino explained, takes place with the support of the Nordic Regional Commission for Coordination and Development, but without losing sight of the support coming from “European policies to support the integration of societies with differences”.
“The goal is within two years [2026] start the project,” he said.
Noting that projects of this type already exist in some European countries, the president of the foundation added that these are initiatives that “combine innovation with organization, architecture and audiences and mobilize people with social activity in integration and relations between peoples.”
Also, according to the person responsible for the fund, “the investment, including support, in the retraining of the structure built in the 1970s will amount to two to three million euros.”
The Inatel Foundation is organizing a conference “Culture for Inclusion” in Porto on Wednesday, scheduled for 21:00 at the Rua do Bonjardim venue in Porto.