The Azores have been nominated for the category of best European archipelago destination. However, this was not the reason why the regional and national media highlighted our region last week. It was not because of the beauty, simplicity, and spontaneity of our people or the unique character of the Azores that we were the subject of constant news reports. It was yet another “unpredictable” event (as they claim) during a bullfight.

I will not dwell on historical, ethical, and philosophical issues surrounding this practice. It is a divisive topic that divides opinion, but it is undoubtedly a matter that is important to reflect on in terms of what we really want. On June 30, another bull died during an event on the island of Terceira. This time, allegedly by drowning, which is a particularly violent process to which the animal is subjected. Dying in the waters off the island of festivals, the old debate has been reignited, and the powerful denial of true aficionados, who continue to blindly defend a reality that is all too evident, has been reaffirmed.

Whether you like it more, like it less, or are realistically against it, the truth is that bullfighting in recent times is not the same as it was a few decades ago. You can argue that this is due to a variety of reasons. Whether you like it or not, or are realistically against it, the truth is that bullfighting in recent times is not the same as it was a few decades ago. You can argue that this is for a variety of reasons. But the fact is that it seems that more animals are dying. And, although there are no concrete statistics, it also appears that there are more injuries and more complications.

Everyone knows this. It was not for nothing that they reduced the size of the bullrings this year, was it? However, some of the people who understand what is going on prefer to defend themselves by denying everything, so that they can continue to enjoy a practice that deserves, at the very least, to be reconsidered. For me, it is no secret that I would prefer to see it abolished once and for all. One thing is certain: if the resident population of Terceira demanded from the Regional Government, in the same way that it defends the maintenance of bullfighting and argues that situations are “unpredictable,” Terceira would already have a consolidated future in the commercial hub of Porto Praia da Vitória-Airport. This proper airport would correspond to the announced project, addressing the problem of contamination of aquifers, soil, and subsoil by hydrocarbons through a more advanced process, while also strengthening the business fabric, among other things. But it is easier to distract the masses with porridge and cakes.

Be that as it may, the bull that died in the waters off Terceira Island can also be understood, in other terms, as a kind of symbolic reflection of the wave that is growing before our eyes, and which we stubbornly refuse to see. On the horizon, a veritable cloud is gathering, rising towards our archipelago and threatening to be more than just a flash in the pan. Just as lovers of bullfighting pretend that nothing is happening, here too, we see the presence of a growing number of deniers in island waters, who insist on looking the other way. At the same time, the danger increases before our very eyes.

The economy is deeply weakened. This is according to the Secretary himself, who, after years of trying to muzzle the debt, finally seems to have realized that the solution to a people’s growth does not lie in forcing them to go hungry. It’s about time. By publicly stating what many people already knew, the man in charge of the numbers made it clear that more cuts are coming.

After years of swallowing budgets with monstrous cuts and red lines in sports, culture, and transportation, for example, how will this government continue now that the inquisitive pencils are approaching key portfolios?

At the end of the day, the people will decide. Here, as in Montenegro, the scenario is clearly becoming more intense. The right-wing government is moving rapidly towards extreme neoliberal policies because it believes this solution is the cure for all ills. The immediate consequence will be the dissolution of the social safety nets, painstakingly built up over decades of democracy, which can easily be dismantled in two or three years. It is time for us to worry about the strong possibility that we will not have reforms. In the United States, this reality has already arrived, after all.

Another casualty in the murky waters of Azorean politics will be the immigrant. I watched with some satisfaction the announcements by the Secretariat for Parliamentary and Community Affairs regarding the improvement of mechanisms to integrate foreign citizens into island life. And then I was saddened by the exacerbated reaction that can be found on the Regional Government’s own website, with harmful comments calling for torture and death. All of this was duly sanctioned and promoted by a party with seats in parliament, mind you.  Perhaps the next bullfights will be held with Cape Verdean citizens instead of bulls? This is how Portugal, which claims to be a good country, is sailing.

Finally, the ultimate sacrifice will be the privatization of the islands, which has already begun but is expected to be consolidated shortly, starting with the weakened airline. Almost every day, there are cries of encouragement to plunge the final swords into the back of SATA, ending its moribund race and throwing it into the sea. With it will go the freedom of movement of a growing number of people, many of them in need of health or justice. Next will be schools and hospitals, a process that has already begun and is expected to be completed by the end of the decade in many offices across the country.

Fostering crisis and chaos is an old policy, well known to those who study history. The poorer the people, the easier it is to control the region they govern. The Azores will be no exception. A historically conservative, sometimes revolutionary, and always peripheral archipelago, located at the crossroads of winds and Atlanteans, wounded by hope for its future. Where Jénifers are prosecuted in courts, and admirals wish to win votes by calling for war. Here, we will all be bulls sacrificed in the cold waters of capitalism, which is now finishing the process of swallowing us all.

Whether you like bullfighting or not, the truth is that those who will run ahead of the Pastores-shepherds-will be us, those who need it most. And in the end, the sixth bull will win. Economic power. The rope is stretched tight. Either we break it quickly, or you already know how it will end.

Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives on the island of Terceira in the Azores. She is a regular contributing writer for several Azorean newspapers, a political and cultural activist, and has served in the Azorean Parliament.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with insight into the diverse opinions on some of the archipelago’s key issues.

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).