The village of Sameiro awaits work after the floods in 2022

“All the same. The municipality is getting closer to the camera and the camera is getting closer to the council,” said Alice Duarte, who saw the mud wash away her cars and invade her minimarket and garages, causing almost 200,000 euros in damage. “When I wanted to restore the gardens, I ran into a wall of bureaucracy,” says José Bautista angrily. According to João Abrantes, the solution is simple: “Simply lower the river bed by destroying the dams and rebuild the destroyed wall, and the water will flow freely into the Zezere River without flooding the center.”

Flavio Massano, president of the Manteigas Chamber, ensures that “the municipality is doing everything it can with the few resources it has.” Manteigas was removed from the government support list and a program contract was promised for work on the community center. “We don’t know what will happen with the fall of the government,” says Massano, who nevertheless wants to continue with the project this year.