The Mina do Barroso sits within a landscape designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the UN, making it a unique ecological zone. While Savannah Resources promises 500 direct jobs and over €700 million in tax revenue, the local community remains unconvinced. Residents argue that the project threatens their traditional farming heritage and claim that the government has systematically sidelined their voices in favor of corporate interests.
Villagers stage five-day protest against Portugal’s Mina do Barroso
A thousand demonstrators are converging on a remote northern Portuguese village this week to block the development of a massive open-pit lithium mine. The gathering at Quinta do Cruzeiro marks a fresh escalation in a seven-year standoff between local residents and London-listed developer Savannah Resources over the project's environmental impact.
Legal tensions reached a breaking point in May when state secretary for energy Jean Barroca signed a decree granting the company forced access to 228 hectares of private and communal land. Although a court in Mirandela briefly halted the project in June, the environment ministry swiftly bypassed the injunction using an administrative easement. This maneuver allows the state to prioritize industrial development over property rights, fueling accusations from activists like Diogo Sobral that the project’s perceived public interest lacks democratic scrutiny.
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