Cabanas de Tavira (; Portuguese for ''"cottages/huts of Tavira"'') is a former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the municipality of

Tavira Tavira () is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the river Guadiana into Spain. The Gilão ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish

Conceição e Cabanas de Tavira Conceição e Cabanas de Tavira is a civil parish in the municipality of Tavira Tavira () is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is ea ...

. The parish covers an area of approximately 4.2 km², and encompasses a resident population of approximately 1181 inhabitants. Once a fishing port, it is now a popular summer tourist destination, owing to its beach (Praia de Cabanas) and island (Ilha de Cabanas), which belong to the Ria Formosa Nature Park.

History

The history of Cabanas is connected to the commercial

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

fishery. Around 1734, during the ''Armação dos Mares de Tavira'', the first cabanas (''cottages'' or ''fishing huts''), important for storage and maintenance of equipment, as well as accommodating the fishers, were constructed. These huts were located along the beach, and the locals began to refer to them as the ''cabanas da armação'' (''tackle huts''). For over twenty years there were references to the ''cabanas'', but usually referring to seasonal activities. The first birth in the area was outside the fishing season, around 1757, and the following year, the municipal council conceded the first land tenure in the ''Cabanas de Armação''. Following this date the first inhabitants began to construct permanent residences in the area. Cabanas de Tavira is a young civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, de-annexed from the neighbouring parish of Conceição on 20 June 1997. Its seat, in the village of Cabanas, was elevated to the status of ''vila'' or ''town'', on 19 April 2001.

Geography

The parish's northern border follows the western railway until slightly after it crosses the E.N.125 motorway; its eastern frontier follows the Ribeiro do Lacém to the coast; the western border also follows a tributary, the Ribeira do Almargem; while the parish fronts the Atlantic Ocean by way of its ''island'' (). Cabanas is a long line of low-rise shops, bars and cafés facing the Ria Formosa with several hotel and apartment complexes scattered around the outskirts of the town. In addition to the parish seat, the territory is constituted by several individual places, such as Gorgulho, Canadinha, Canada, Arrancada, Pocinho de Oliveira, Gomeira, Barroquinha, Barroca, Morgadinho, Morgado, Baleeira and Lacém. Although the population is relatively small, this number expands considerably during the summer period, due to a large influx of tourists and beach-goers.

Economy

Moored fishing boats line the seafront, although the town's economy has drifted mainly towards tourism rather than fishing in recent years. Ever associated with the fishery, in 1973, Cabanas created its first tourist-oriented business. ''Pedras da Rainha'' (''Queens Rocks''), as it was known, provided the first local employment, and over time, it began to look to tourism as an alternative industry to the primary sector. While the fishery is still a considerable part of the economy, by the end of the 20th century, the tourist sector had become the innovator of development in the small parish. Annually, thousands of visitors come to the region to entertain themselves with rich patrimony, including the Ria Formosa Nature Park and the approximately seven kilometres of beaches, dunes and crystalline waters. Supporting these ventures, the local government has maintained a tourist-orient quality of life, with consecutive Blue Flag designations since 1989, for beach water quality.

Transport

Several buses routinely link the municipal seat (Tavira) to Cabanas daily. The nearest raillink is in nearby Conceição which is on the Tavira to

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality covers ...

line. Access to the popular beach is by

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...

from several points along the harbor area: the water taxis are small outboard boats operated by local watermen and by at least one company. Each boat may be identified by colored flags on their sterns.

Architecture

Military

* Fort of São João da Barra ()

Religious

* Church of Nossa Senhora do Mar ()

In the arts

Cinema

Some outdoors scenes for movies were recorded here. These were: * Almadraba Atuneira (1961) () * Hovering Over the Water (1986) * Água e Sal (2001)

References

External links

Cabanas de Tavira photos hosted on Flickr Cabanas de Tavira - Tavira Guide
{{Authority control Former parishes of Tavira