The Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and the Environment, through the Regional Directorate for the Environment, will improve the access conditions to Pico Mountain, creating a new reserved area for visitors, a support area for mountain guides and a parking area for vehicles.
 
According to the public tender published today in the Official Journal, the contract work for the construction of the support area for descents and a car parking area has a base price of about 520 thousand Euros and a completion period of 365 days.
 
The "Casa da Montanha" (Mountain House) is a mandatory stop on Pico Mountain. However, it has proved to be a small space for registration needs and appropriate care to the growing number of visitors who climb the mountain or just visit the House, 10,415 and 14,300, respectively.
 
For this reason, the Government has decided to create a new area reserved for visitors who complete the descent of the mountain, separating the flows of visitors who are climbing or descending the mountain. Moreover, this Natural Reserve will feature new interpretive contents.
 
In addition to this investment, the Government has also published the access rules to this Nature Reserve and is implementing a security system and visitor control system that involves the provision of individual monitoring equipment to all those who climb Pico Mountain.