Cabanas de Tavira

Cabanas de Tavira is a former civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Conceição e Cabanas de Tavira. The parish covers an area of approximately 4.2 km², and encompasses a resident population of approximately 1181 inhabitants. Once a fishing port, it is now a popular summer tourist destination, owing to its beach (Praia de Cabanas) and island (Ilha de Cabanas), which belong to the Ria Formosa Nature Park.HistoryThe history of Cabanas is connected to the commercial tuna fishery. Around 1734, during the Armação dos Mares de Tavira, the first cabanas (cottages or fishing huts), important for storage and maintenance of equipment, as well as accommodating the fishers, were constructed. These huts were located along the beach, and the locals began to refer to them as the cabanas da armação (tackle huts). For over twenty years there were references to the cabanas, but usually referring to seasonal activities. The first birth in the area was outside the fishing season, around 1757, and the following year, the municipal council conceded the first land tenure in the Cabanas de Armação. Following this date the first inhabitants began to construct permanent residences in the area.Cabanas de Tavira is a young civil parish in the municipality of Tavira, de-annexed from the neighbouring parish of Conceição on 20 June 1997. Its seat, in the village of Cabanas, was recently elevated to the status of vila or town, on 19 April 2001.GeographyThe parish's northern border follows the western railway until slightly after it crosses the E.N.125 motorway; its eastern frontier follows the Ribeiro do Lacém to the coast; the western border also follows a tributary, the Ribeira do Almargem; while the parish fronts the Atlantic Ocean by way of its island (''Ilha das Cabanas).