Promises and Deliveries in the Alqueva Paradox: Neoextractivism and the Limits of Territorial Cohesion Policy in Southern Portugal

The Alqueva Multifunctional Project was conceived as a development infrastructure for southern Portugal, promising agricultural modernisation, demographic stabilisation, job creation and territorial cohesion. This article examines the gap between these promises and the project’s outcomes through an analysis of documents, census data, sectoral indicators and a territorial case-study approach. The results reveal a clear paradox, as significant achievements were observed in the water, agriculture, energy and tourism sectors, including the expansion of irrigation, growth in exports, greater water security and innovation in the field of renewable energy. However, these sectoral gains have coexisted with ongoing depopulation, an ageing population, the precarious nature of the migrant workforce, land concentration, poor local value retention and growing environmental pressures. The article argues that this contradiction reflects a development model shaped by neoextractivism, accumulation through dispossession and the limited capture of territorial rent. Alqueva thus demonstrates how technically successful infrastructure projects can fail to generate inclusive territorial development when redistribution, institutional coordination and local integration remain inadequate and when effective mechanisms for spatial justice are lacking.