“A year of good results, with good prospects for 2026, as a positive consequence of the policies developed by the Regional Government led by José Manuel Bolieiro.”

This is how the vice president of the PSD/Azores, Cristina Canto Tavares, analyzes the year that is coming to an end and looks ahead to next year.

According to the Social Democrat, we are witnessing “a paradigm shift with unprecedented results in the reduction of the poverty rate by 6.9 percentage points compared to 2018, along with a reduction in the early school leaving rate by 6.6 percentage points.”

“A SOURCE OF PRIDE”

“All of this is a source of pride in the good measures taken by this Regional Government, which consolidates a series of structural changes, not only in the area of education, but also in the increase in disposable income for families, with the results in terms of full employment being particularly noteworthy,” she said, in an assessment of the year that is now ending.

Cristina Canto Tavares said that there is currently “the lowest unemployment rate ever in the Azores, which has more than 121,000 Azoreans in active employment, standing out from the rest of the country.”

YEAR OF CONSOLIDATION

Given the scenario she outlines, the vice president of the PSD/Azores “envisions 2026 as the consolidation of paradigm shifts, with concrete results, naturally with new measures such as the Regional Plan for Inclusion and Citizenship, as well as the Electronic Social Card, which will continue the social policies of José Manuel Bolieiro’s government.”

With the creation of these two instruments, more than 1,300 families will be covered, said Cristina Canto Tavares.

The inclusion instruments in question are the result of work carried out by the University of Coimbra, commissioned by the Vice President of the Regional Government, which aimed to analyze the measures to combat poverty implemented in the Azores and propose measures capable of reversing a situation that was considered worrying.

The program took years to implement, and in its original version, it aims to reduce monetary poverty by ten percent for each year of its duration.

Over a five-year period, such poverty, as can be seen, should be reduced by 50 percent.

On the other hand, the PS has a different take

The year 2025 represented “a historic, probably unrepeatable opportunity for the development of the Region,” which ended up being wasted by the current Regional Government, said the Vice President of the PS Azores, Cristina Calisto

According to Cristina Calisto, the Azores benefited from the best economic climate ever: “We have never had so much EU funding to invest, more tax revenue and revenue from the Regional Finance Law, and a record number of tourists consuming regional products and generating employment.”

A positive economic climate that, she said, was leveraged “by private initiative and the work of the Azoreans.”

However, in her view, this opportunity was “wasted by the worst Regional Government the Azores has ever had.”

The Vice President of the PS Azores pointed out “the rising cost of living for most families, a deep housing crisis, the worrying growth of dependencies, serious health problems, difficulties in the fisheries sector, the SATA crisis, and failures in air and sea transport for passengers and goods.”

Cristina Calisto also referred to “the dramatic situation experienced by many IPSS (Private Social Solidarity Institutions), delays in the execution and payment of EU funds, and the rapid growth of regional public debt, at a rate of around one million euros per day.”

“Even more serious is the failure of government action and confidence in the government led by José Manuel Bolieiro, with no prospect of improvement,” she said, adding that the PS Azores “has fulfilled its role throughout 2025, not only by warning of the problems, but also by presenting concrete solutions and alternatives.” For Cristina Calisto, 2026 must necessarily be “very different.”

“This government must change or risk being changed,” she argued, noting that the PS Azores “will continue to exercise responsible, demanding, and constructive opposition, based on rigor, the presentation of proposals, and the clear affirmation that there is an alternative path for the region.”

“The PS Azores guarantees the Azoreans that it is possible to avoid the bankruptcy of the Region, improve the cost of living, and restore hope to face and overcome the challenges of the future,” she said.

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço, director

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