Five minutes by car from downtown Faro, just two minutes from the nearest shopping centre, three minutes from the airport, and five minutes from Faro beach. With all this in mind, no one doubts that Quinta de Faro has an ideal location, as well as an elevated position that allows almost all the 37 properties to have a stunning view over the Ria Formosa.

To find out further details about these villas that are attracting as many foreigners as Portuguese, we spoke to Etsânea Fortes, sales and marketing assistant at the MJ Développement group – the company that handles the marketing of Quinta de Faro - who told The Portugal News why this new project is breathing new life into Faro.

New life

The whole construction was designed by Joaquim Pires' team, which gives us a good idea of the kind of work we can expect from it. "We're going to use travertine stone, which is a natural stone. Joaquim uses it a lot. Some houses have a basement with a gym, hammam, laundry room and a wine cellar. Also, there is a garage of about 60m2, plus the outdoor space that can also be used for parking," she said.

As we are used to from Joaquim Pires constructions in Saint-Tropez, each villa has a green roof that helps to integrate the house into nature as well as to avoid visual pollution. In addition, the grass is synthetic, which helps to reduce maintenance costs.

Furthermore, Etsânea Fortes said that it is easy to sell these properties "because we basically report what we know naturally and the person on the other side gets what sets these villas apart," she said, adding that either in Faro or in France, the MJ Développement group team is passionate about the work they are doing.

"We don't sell villas, we sell Faro. We sell the old town, the islands that people can go to by boat, we sell the typical restaurants, we sell the quality of life that Faro offers", she said.

A local experience

"There are a lot of foreigners who come to other cities in the Algarve, but they live in a bubble and end up not getting a taste of Portuguese culture. When you see some Faro restaurants from the outside, the facades are old, but when you experience the quality of the staff, the local catches from the Ria Formosa and the traditional dishes - it's a lovely experience. That's what it really means to live in Portugal and get engaged with the locals," she added.

In fact, this value has already won an award, as Quinta de Faro recently won an European Property Awards prize for "Residential Development Portugal 2021-2022”, which “makes us very proud, as it is our first project in Portugal," Etsânea concluded.