N266-0371, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

Over the last few months they’ve been doing some repair work on the railway that runs through Santa Clara, and there’ve been huge lorries moving tons and tons of soil and rock from one place to another nearby.

All well and good, but the cost has been that the main road near us has simply disintegrated, and the picture above is just one of the many pot-holes around here.

Flora standing behind it gives some idea of the size, but that pile of earth in front of her isn’t at the side of the road – it’s right in the middle, and the difference between the bottom of the hole and the top of the pile is over half a meter!

We’ve talked to the Junta, (the equivalent of the Parish Council), we’ve complained to the Câmara, (the equivalent of the County Council) and we’ve made an official complaint to Estradas de Portugal, (the national road maintenance body), complete with photographs etc etc and nothing seems to be happening at all, so please, if you’re going to be visiting us anytime soon, TAKE CARE or you’ll be liable to lose your sump, wheels, tyres – or even the whole car if it gets much worse.

It’ll be interesting to see when something’s actually done about it; I’ll keep you posted!