Tide mill 'Moinhos das Marés'

This area is known as the mill site and this mill was acquired by the grandfather of Margarida Gomes in 1920.
When her grandfather bought it, the mill was no longer working. It served as housing for workers at the salt mines and the salt factory. Until around the mid-1990s, several families lived here, but the space ended up being abandoned.

It was in a very dilapidated state, there were parts of the roof that gave way. The roof fell down and the balcony was in ruins. The interior was very tampered with, because it was adapted to serve as a home, we had to remove all these intrusive elements.

The salt factory was named after the owner, José Guerreiro, just like the mill. From the salt flats, a society was created called Neto e Guerreiro. It still exists today and has embraced the rehabilitation project.

The recovering the mill started in 2006. Between the awarding of the first architectural studies and the opening ten years passed, with the bureaucratic aspect being the major time consuming factor.

Margarida Gomes: «There was a lot of fear on the part of the authorities that we would not create a construction faithful to the original. But we committed to the Ria Formosa Natural Park that we would only build with traditional techniques and that we would not increase the space. This mill is not an inch bigger than it always was. All exterior walls were made of stone, laid by hand. It's a job that few people know how to do anymore. There was a great effort on the part of the family to bear the cost of the work», estimated at 400 thousand euros (work and equipment).

In addition to the five rooms, for local accommodation, the main room of the mill was planned to be open all year round, as a tapas bar, with regional products. The tapas bar has existed for some time but now the whole complex is holliday accommodation

Remains of old millstones, found on the property, were incorporated into the walls. The turning of the mill with the ebb tide, and the windows almost at the level of the Ria, create an idyllic environment.

Photos:@Moinhos das Marés