ALENTEJO  |  2025  |  South-Central Alentejo, PO 











































Alentejo


In May 2025 the ARL project looked at a region in the south-central Alentejo region of Portugal.

This area follows a pattern found in other areas of Europe, with a mixture of traditional agriculture alongside larger agribusiness and rural diversification.

A blend of established small and large farms were evident, with much of the land used for livestock, olives, vineyards and cork forests. Many of the larger olive production sites are internationally owned and controlled (by Aggraria, for example), although there are smaller localised and often artisan producers. The rural economy was greatly supplemented, again as in many parts of contemporary Europe, by tourism. For example, the owner of a country estate was photographed, this was Castelo Ventoso, a former Jesuit palace now converted to luxury holiday rental dwellings.  American tourists on a typical cycling and wine-tasting tour of the region were also photographed.

Rural industries photographed included a vineyard and associated winery, a cork factory and a traditional shepherd's bell maker. The project recorded several regenerative initiatives, such as young people developing a small-scale independent agroforestry business east of Evora. A major centre of regenerative agroforestry, including a well-established educational programme, is at Herdade do Freixo do Meio. This is overseen by Alfredo Cunhal Sendim and has been operating since 1996. It promotes syntropic agroforestry techniques and attracts an international range of students. Another interesting project involves architectural students from the University of Linz working on restoring traditional village buildings as part of their master's programme. The University's BASEhabitat programme has been working with the 'Estação Cooperativa' initiative to reactivate existing buildings in the village of Casa Branca since 2022.