Embargo on the Vila Galé group’s wine hotel on the Curutêlo farm in Ponte de Lima has already been lifted

Works in the palace remain embargoed

However, the embargo decreed for intervention in the Curutêlo palace or castle, located in the parish of Ardegão, Freixo and Mato, which has been classified as a Property of Public Interest since 1977, has, under legal terms, a General Protection Zone. (ZGP) of 50 meters.

This Thursday, Vasco Ferraz revealed that a total embargo on the Vila Galé group’s hotel project in the municipality was decreed last week, due to “pressure” from the Government, which he considered to be untenable. “We carried out a total embargo last week solely and simply upon recommendation, and even pressure, from the State Secretariat for Culture, because we do not have technical information to support the embargo”, stated the CDS-PP mayor.

In the response sent to Lusa today, the Ministry of Culture adds that it was Cultural Heritage that “proposed the lifting of the total embargo”, based on “technical grounds”. The partial embargo remains and “is limited to the listed property and the respective general protection zone”, that is, to the works planned for the palace.

“The inspections carried out on the work at Paço do Curutêlo revealed unequivocal non-conformities in the work in progress in the property classified as of public interest and in its General Protection Zone in relation to the licensed project”. According to the ministry, “the embargo was determined on October 10, following a proposal from Património Cultural, IP. This precautionary measure was imposed in order to promote the establishment of repair and mitigation measures, still in the construction phase, that allow minimizing the affectation of the classified property and its surroundings”.

It is worth remembering that on October 10th, the council decreed a partial embargo on intervention in the Curutêlo castle, following a joint inspection with the Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N) on the project. The previous day, the Cultural Heritage Institute had announced “a profound review of the protection areas” of listed monuments, in the wake of the “irreversible impact” caused by the construction of a hotel in Paço de Curutêlo.

“The only difference we found in the work [relativamente ao que previa o projeto inicial] it was an intervention in the Palace and its constituent parts, a granary and the chapel, which are not listed, but are within the general protection area”, argued Vasco Ferraz.

Wine cellar has already been opened

In 2022, Paço do Curutêlo was acquired by the Vila Galé group, through the company Xvinus – Companhia Enoturística, Lda, a partnership with the Madre hotel group. In January, the group announced an investment of 20 million euros to create a wine tourism and green wine production project, opening in 2025, creating 42 jobs.

The tourism, wine tourism and wine production project, scheduled to open in April 2025, covers an area of ​​57 hectares and envisages the construction of the Vila Galé Ponte de Lima Collection – Vineyards Historic Countrywith 69 rooms, outdoor swimming pools for adults and children, Satsanga Spa & Wellness, event hall for 600 people, two restaurants, library, chapel and a museum space dedicated to the history of the place, as well as a wine cellar, already opened, and a vineyard.

The wine cellar, opened on October 12th, represented an investment of 3.4 million euros. With a production capacity of more than 200 thousand bottles, it is equipped with the most modern technology and will have the capacity to vinify all plots of the property.

Currently, according to the Vila Galé group, Paço do Curutêlo has around 13 hectares of vineyards already planted, with plots between seven and 20 years old. In 2025, new plantings will be carried out, totaling 20 hectares.

Loureiro, Alvarinho, Avesso and Arinto will be the reference varieties. And the first green wine with the Paço do Curutelo brand was launched on April 25, 2024.