Dr. Fernando Diogo, a Professor at the University of the Azores and a CICS-Nova researcher, points out in this interview with the Diário Insular newspaper that in the Azores, a large proportion of the poor are working people. Tourism doesn’t rescue them from this condition.

Eurostat figures for 2023 show what may be a link between high at-risk-of-poverty rates and the predominance of tourism in regional economies. In Portugal, the Azores, Madeira and the Algarve are examples. How do you explain that the Azorean economy is growing and driven by tourism but that the risk of poverty is not slowing down?
The fact that there is more wealth doesn’t mean that it ends up in people’s hands equally. Inequality in the distribution of wealth is universal but can be greater or lesser depending on the productive specialties of local economies. In the context of the European Union and the OECD, Portugal is one of the countries with the most unequal distribution of wealth. This also has to do with the distribution of wealth within Europe. Some studies clearly show that poverty tends to be lower along an axis that runs from London to Vienna, in the north of Europe. The further south you go, the greater the poverty. This kind of logic is also true in many countries. In particular, these studies show that the region where the capital is located always has a lower poverty rate than the country’s other regions. Then, the distance from the capital region exacerbates the situation. It’s not the only factor, but tourism doesn’t help. In the case of the Azores, it’s not just tourism: the activities that predominate in the Azorean economy, such as agriculture, fishing, and construction, together with tourism, have characteristics that favor the existence of a large number of poor workers. Eurostat figures show that roughly one in four Azoreans is in poverty. Most of these people are children, pensioners,s or the working poor. Those who are truly unemployed are a small fraction in the context. We don’t have 25% of Azoreans sitting at home without anything to do.

But this discourse has become increasingly common…
This is not a specifically Azorean thing. Not long ago, I heard a member of the Madeira Regional Assembly associate poverty with poverty of spirit: The poor are the poor in spirit. Most of the poor, and we must be aware of this, work habitually. The problem is low income. Most of them are permanent workers. In other cases, they are precarious workers. Some have difficulty finding work and go through frequent periods of unemployment and non-employment. Others are precarious, always in employment, but perilous. This is from the point of view of individuals. From the perspective of the regional economy, tourism is associated with other sectors of activity that also offer low salaries, precarious employment and hard work, and continuous physical force. Tourism is very good for the owners and those in management positions, but it’s not so good for ordinary mortals. Seasonality is another form of precariousness. Added to this are other forms of hardship, such as shift work. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Now, tourism has a dark side. The fact that it doesn’t contribute to fighting poverty and generates poor workers is a significant part of these negative aspects, called touristification. I see speeches that only see the positive side of tourism. We also need to discuss the negative side to minimize its effects.

What policies can counteract these negative effects? Low wages are repeated in tourist regions.
The Azores cannot replace cow monoculture with tourism monoculture. The issue is not tourism but diversifying the Azorean economy so that we do not put all our eggs in one basket. You have to be able to diversify the activity and, of course, pay better wages. This is a very important issue. When we look at the unequal distribution of wealth in the country, we must not forget that the Azores are currently the region with the most unequal income distribution. There is clearly room to increase wage income and thereby reduce poverty. It has an immediate effect. Another way is to increase pensions. These are the two major effects supporting income improvement. Then, from the workers’ point of view, measures to help reconcile work and family life are very important. On the one hand, they make it easier for those working to carry out their tasks and reduce costs.

On the other hand, those looking for work find it easier and more flexible to do so. Hence, universal daycare and a public daycare system complement the social and private systems in the region, which is important. This is just one example of the work/family reconciliation component. In the case of Portugal and also the Azores, another problem has been gaining volume in a blatant way recently, which is having a systemic effect that goes far beyond people in poverty and is affecting the whole of society, which is the problem of housing. The state has to intervene more in housing, not just for the most disadvantaged economically but also for the middle classes. The situation is very complicated throughout the country. In the case of the Azores, you can see with the naked eye that there are huge difficulties. The housing problem has systemic impacts, such as postponing the decision to have children. We have young people leaving the country because they can’t afford to live here, starting with the houses, or their salaries are low, and they are in precarious jobs in tourism. I don’t see any solution for the housing problem, either from the government of the Republic or the regional government. Any solution in this area requires time. There are funds under the PRR (Recovery and Resilience Plan), but this will be for the medium term, and I don’t know if it will be enough.

In 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.