History

The history of Empresa das Águas do Vimeiro, S.A. goes back to the 19th century essentially related to the use of the water for therapeutic needs.There are records from 1845 that confirm the existence of two baths next to the Alcabrichel River in the village of Maceira . To the north there existed a bath belonging to an individual and to the south there existed a series of baths belonging to the Penafirme Convent.

The first analysis of these waters was made in 1867 by Agostinho Vicente Lourenço and later on by Charles Lepierre being constituted as the official analysis.

In 1895 the waters were inspected for concession reasons. The license charter was emitted on January 30^th 1896 for unlimited time after its owner, José Pedro Cardoso, manifested interest, turning the exploitation of the water legal.

In 1920 the heirs of the first concessionaire solicited a license for changing the name to Empresa das Águas do Vimeiro, Lda. Although there existed a concessionary the infra structures didn’t offer the conditions necessary to exercise the thermal activity. In 1933 the property was pawned and put on sale. The Torres Vedras City Hall purchased the property but there was no change in the conditions or even any exploitation of the sources.

In 1935 Levy Augusto de Vasconcelos solicited the concession of the Vimeiro sources to the Direcção Geral de Minas e Serviços Geológicos based on its evident abandon. In 1938 the property was passed to Levy Augusto de Vasconcelos who marked immediately the reserved area to a minimum of 50 hectares.

In 1940 the precariousness of the infra structures were maintained for a few more years until 1945 when the DGMSG gave the administration of the enterprise to Joaquim Belchior. It was then built a small Thermal Centre and a Bottling factory. In 1946, 305 inscriptions were registered for the Thermal Centre and 5000 (5litre) flagons were sold from the bottling factory.

The Empresa Águas do Vimeiro was growing and with it so was the region, turning itself into one of the principal income sources for the population of the surrounding area, all the more since agriculture was declining and becoming a simple substance activity.

Two hotels were built, Golf Mar Hotel which is by the beach and the Hotel das Termas is next to the Thermal Centre. Two Thermal Centres next to the principal sources which are Fonte de Santa Isabel and Fonte dos Frades. Two bottling factories, one for Still Natural Mineral Water and the other for Sparkling Mineral Water and all the remaining land was used for agriculture.

Although there was a great development for 3 decades the enterprises started to feel a depression aggravated by the death of Eduardo Belchior, son of Joaquim Belchior and a few years after his own death.

Since the 90’s that the enterprise was motive of bankruptcy news and in October 2001 the Espirito Santo Group acquired the whole Complex initiating immediately its recuperation. The biggest financial problems were immediately resolved and therefore the recuperation of the infra structures were initiated giving back the good image that the enterprise always had.

The recuperation of the Golf Mar Hotel, still in course, the restoration of the Hotel das Termas and the Thermal Centre, the visual improvements in some spaces such as the Golf-Course, the Riding Centre, the Swimming Pools and the inauguration of the new infra-structures of the bottling factory, on December 20^th 2005, are all factors which permits the growth of the enterprise and all the surrounding region which is in great development.