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12th May 2007

Town that got away

Tavira is the exception to the Algarve rule – unspoilt and affordable. Anthony Jefferies reports.

WE BRITISH love the Algarve with its year-round sunshine, its Anglophile leanings and more golf courses than you can shake a mashie nib lick at.

The problem is that so many of us buy into this southern European dream that it can seem more like Bournemouth than Albufeira at times. Everywhere you look there are menus, signs and newspapers in English, and the estate agents’ windows are full of front-line golf villas and low rise apartment blocks within easy reach of an authentic Irish pub or an Asian restaurant.

But if somewhere authentically Portuguese is top of your wish list, there are precious few settlements on the long coastline that fit the bill. One that does is Tavira, almost midway between the Spanish border and the busy regional capital of Faro, where dozens of flights everyday deliver thousands of holiday makers and second-homers. Tavira might be just down the road from the full-on tourist bustle of the central Algarve – it might even share the 20-mile long lagoon known as the Ria Formosa – but that’s where the similarities end.

This is a jewel of a town, full of history, knockout views and enough quiet spots that you might think no one has stumbled across them for days. What’s more, the property market in the eastern Algarve still lags behind the rest of the region so prices, while climbing are still very affordable.

A couple of hours’ stroll will be enough to decide whether this is your kind of town. And it won’t work for those who want 24-hour entertainment, full-on beach facilities or a taste of home from home. But if an authentic slice of Portugal and a reminder of a slower pace of life are on the menu, then sit down, unfold the napkin and tuck in.

Like so much of the Iberian peninsula, the town still wears the odd adornment of its former rulers – there’s a Roman bridge and a ruined Moorish castle, though the views from its walls are stunning. There are elegant churches, too, and a lively square at one end of a tree – lined avenue. But two things make Tavira special: the back streets and the river.

The Rua do Cais fronts the river Gilao which splits the town in two. This is where the old, wrought iron and stone market hall has been turned into lots of lifestyle stores and a few waterfront cafes, where you can nurse your bica coffee and watch the world drift by.

It may flow slowly, but the Gilai is still the heart of Tavira. The small fleet of brightly fishing boats chugs away from the quay every morning, through the deserted tuna canning factories on the edge of town tell their own tale about the change in fishing practices.

The hauls are still good, though, and every night diners in restaurants across town can eat bass, bream and snapper which was still swimming in the western Atlantic 24 hours earlier.

The quayside is also where the tourist boats moor up before heading for the Isle of Tavira, the golden sandbank which forms the eastern end of the long lagoon.

The beach is a couple of miles from town, so a 15 minute boat trip is the best option, unless you fancy a testing swim, or what can be a sweaty stroll.

Which means it might still feel like being in Portugal for a few years yet.