In just over a month, the year of the Portuguese Capital of Culture will formally begin in the city of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel. A mission, built by many hands, which began as part of nine islands, which wanted to be like nine neighborhoods. A vision for the future of regional culture, where that city could one day have been the beacon that this region desperately needs.

And then, nothing. After the defeat in the European process, the consolation prize announced, referring to the national distinction, seems to have been swept under the carpet. For years, Ponta Delgada has been culturally dormant, devoted only to parties and concerts on the outskirts to please the misguided masses of tourists who stroll through its streets, side by side with the hundreds of people who suffer from serious social inclusion problems, without money to eat, let alone rent a studio apartment. Instead of being the capital, whether Portuguese or Azorean, Ponta Delgada has become an example to consider when we think of a people who do not receive culture. Its municipality has not done its job. For this and other reasons, it should have lost at the polls.

It did not. Nascimento Cabral returned victorious, now with consolidated power, concentrating power in the mayor. Is Ponta Delgada preparing to be, in fact, the Portuguese Capital of Culture? We shall see.

For now, what we know is that, allegedly, there are many forces at work internally, with many desires and behind-the-scenes games. From what is known and what is allegedly going on, there is not much point in talking about it here, because these are spoken words that cannot be written down for fear of being scrutinized by any minimally decent inspection. I could mention a supposed luxury apartment, or ask about possible perks of the commission, but that could even be forgiven and excused if there were a program for us to work on. After all, what seems to exist is a team selected to make deals between hand-picked groups, without equal opportunities or even the will to try to make it seem fair. From nine neighborhoods, the Capital of Culture has become nine people, more or less.

2026 will be the year of Autonomy. Until I die, there will be no other anniversary as significant as this one, based on the concept that made the Azores what they are today, for better or for worse. Some organizations, here and there, are preparing work programs to celebrate Autonomy. More conferences and debates on the future are expected, which is perfectly understandable and commendable. However, in my view, we are running away from the main issue. Autonomy is exhausted by centralism. And it is centralism that shaped the Portuguese Capital of Culture, abandoning the rest of the archipelago to its fate, from Ribeira Grande to Santa Cruz das Flores, from Vila do Corvo to Horta, from Angra do Heroísmo to Velas. From Lajes do Pico to Povoação. Only Ponta Delgada remained.

Which would not be serious, I repeat. Because, in theory, autonomy allows the Azores to build a working structure, which over the years has come to be known as the Regional Directorate for Culture or Cultural Affairs, depending on the more or less inspired poetry of those who ran it. The seriousness lies in the analysis of recent years, which shows that there has been no regional directorate in operation since the time of Nuno Ribeiro Lopes, the last regional director who left a job well done, whether you liked it or not. The architect Ribeiro Lopes was the last to truly work on the Legal Framework for Support to Cultural Activities. He was responsible for defining strategies for reading, audiovisuals, whaling heritage, archaeology, museums, and libraries. Those who followed him continued to ride on part of his legacy, until it eventually ran out, at the end of the ocean of ideas he left behind. I assume he would bow to the government or a social movement that demanded his return, for the salvation of culture.

There remained people he valued in technical positions. And it was hoped that culture would survive. Of these people, we find no tangible trace. As I write these lines, the position of regional director is vacant. I fear that the director of services is busy training with the regional fire department to be able to put out all the fires that have multiplied in the operation of the famous support platform, which never worked. Thanks to changes in the organization, there are no longer any first-level middle managers. And at the second level, there is only one division head, who is showing signs of life, appearing in photos of projects by the University of the Azores and the Portuguese Association of Museology.

Returning to PDL26, there is an essential document that seems to go unnoticed by Azorean society: the protocol signed on October 18 between the Government of Spinumviva, divided between two ministries, a secretariat, and a poorly organized city council, does not even come close to 5 million, and depends on competence that is not recognized in the interested parties. This same document provides for internal oversight, with total transparency for the benefit of the society that should benefit from this event. What is certain is that there is already a request from the Socialist Party, dated October 21, with objective questions about financial transparency, transparency of programming and associated costs, and contractual oversight. And I join these voices, asking once again: What were the criteria for appointing the Commissioner? Who appointed her? What is the total amount of salaries, travel, accommodation, food, and allowances for the Commissioner and her task force in the total budget for Ponta Delgada – Portuguese Capital of Culture 2026?

Transparency cannot be just a word used to promote certain navels, because then culture is irretrievably lost. If Almada Negreiros were still here, what would he say about all this? Perhaps that culture should die, die, pim!

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

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant perspectives on some of the archipelago’s 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).