The President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ALRAA), Luís Garcia, has warned of the region’s demographic problem.
The problem was mentioned during a formal session commemorating the Day of the Region as a “critical issue that deserves our priority attention.”
Luís Garcia states, “in the last ten years, the Azores have lost more than 10,000 inhabitants”.
He defends the need to find solutions that “reverse this trend and encourage people to settle and be attracted to our region”, namely referring to the youngest and most qualified.
“This is a problem for all of us,” and therefore “requires coordinated action from all the agents and promoters of development,” he said.
Regarding economic and social development, the President of the ALRAA says that the region needs “a renewed, robust and sustainable boost,” pointing to the difficulty in realizing the convergence of the Azores’ GDP per capita with the national and European averages.
For Luís Garcia, this reality allows him to “demand a new financial regime between the State and the Azores from the Government and the Assembly of the Republic.”
In his speech, the President of the Regional Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, affirmed the continued existence of “non-compliance and neglect” on the part of the Republic towards the Azores.
“I say again now, for the Azores, that the state’s obligations to the Azoreans do not begin and end with the annual transfers of funds from the state budget to the regional budget. They are only fulfilled if the state guarantees that all citizens are treated equally by the state, giving them the same opportunities, regardless of where they live,” said Bolieiro.
Despite the Republic’s positive responses regarding the rehabilitation of HDES and the consideration of young Azoreans as potential direct beneficiaries of national measures, Bolieiro admits that non-compliance still “penalizes us heavily.”

From Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.