The Freixo de Espada à Cinta Fire Brigade Association, in the district of Bragança, held a draw yesterday for the first prize of a mansion, donated by a benefactor to build a museum there, and the winner is a resident of Braga.
The president of the fire department, Edgar Gata, revealed to Jornal de Notícias that he has already spoken “to the person who was awarded the palace, who lives in Braga, but who does not authorize the disclosure of his identity”.
“But I think they are people with the capacity to give this property a solution,” he adds.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Edgar Gata said that the draw for the raffle tickets sold at five euros each, which totaled more than 50,000 euros, was concluded today, in accordance with the programmed rules.
“We’re contacting the people whose numbers won the three prizes in the competition. We’ve checked the authenticity of the raffle tickets and found that all three numbers are valid. We are now contacting people discreetly, as we are obliged to do,” he explained.
Edgar Gata added that the names of the winners will only be disclosed with prior authorization under the data protection law.
“We’ll post the winning numbers on the fire department’s official Facebook page in due course,” he said.
The AHBVFEC received a donation of the house located in the center of the village of Ligares and, according to the will to which Lusa had access, it was to be used to create a museum with motifs relating to the fire department and other curiosities. The will was drawn up at the Notary’s Office in Freixo de Espada à Cinta on July 25, 2003.
On July 16, 2020, the AHBVFEC’s general assembly unanimously approved putting the property up for sale through tenders and, on May 4, 2021, the AHBVFEC issued a public notice in which it stated that it was “open to receiving tenders from those possibly interested in acquiring the property, located on Rua da Amargura, in Ligares”.
The attempted sale was reversed due to the opposition of the inhabitants of Ligares, who were outraged at the sale of property donated by the benevolent Veneranda Martins.
The villa from the early 20th century has a covered area of around 400 square meters and, as a whole, the property has an area of 900 square meters.
The placement of the property as the first prize in the draw was initially considered by the association’s leaders to be “an unprecedented situation”, in order to resolve the fate of the property.
Claiming to lack the financial means to restore the house, the AHBFEC launched the “raffle” at the end of February 2023, using social networks and direct contacts.
In November 2023, the Freixo de Espada à Cinta Fire Brigade Association decided to extend the deadline for the raffle to March, with the draw taking place in April, as the sale of raffle tickets had not yet reached the 50,000 euros stipulated in the regulations.
The head of the humanitarian association explained that over the months many suggestions and criticisms have been made and, after analyzing the draw as part of the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the humanitarian association, it was decided to postpone it and change the regulations.
“There were people who asked for the money spent on the raffles to be returned and others who didn’t,” said Edgar Gata.
The AHBVFEC board has decided to withdraw the condition of the 50,000 euro ‘ceiling’ as planned.
The draw will maintain the initial prizes which, in addition to the villa, include a stay in Freixo de Espada à Cinta for a week for two people and a set of 48 bottles of Douro wine.
The jury for this draw, according to Edgar Gata, was made up of a representative of the town hall, a representative of the Ligares Parish Council and a member of the fire department management.