The year 2026 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first Regional Government of the Azores, which took office on September 8, 1976.

The date deserves to be properly honored, for it stands as a historic milestone in the construction of Autonomous Regional Power. Yet no one expects politicians and officeholders to mark it with fireworks or self-congratulatory memorials cataloguing what has already been done. What is needed instead is a forward-looking reflection on the future of the Azorean people and of the nine islands themselves—one that measures our course against the horizons of development and well-being already reached elsewhere.

That reflection will only be truly meaningful if it involves the people of ALL THE ISLANDS, whose aspirations converge on growth that is both equitable and rooted in solidarity.

And yet, it seems to me that regional political, governmental, academic, cultural, and socioeconomic institutions have been neglecting a crucial opportunity: to rethink the autonomous system itself and to reassess its enduring value for civic participation—particularly the Azoreans’ right to speak, to be heard, and to help shape their collective future.

In the times we are living through, what is required is nothing less than collective commitment and a renewed devotion to the public good.

With this introduction in place, I return to the concerns that most trouble me in the present reality of the nine islands—especially the so-called “smaller” ones: demographic aging and desertification.

This challenge extends across the entire European Union. So much so that, in June 2023, the European Council tasked the European Commission with developing responses to support Member States by reconciling family aspirations with paid work; ensuring access to childcare and a healthier balance between professional and family life; empowering younger generations to thrive, develop skills, and gain easier access to employment and affordable housing; strengthening older generations while safeguarding their well-being; and addressing labor shortages through well-managed legal migration, designed to complement and harness talent across the EU.

Because these measures took the form of recommendations, the issue seemed destined to fade into the background. It did not—only because far-right political forces, cloaked in an isolationist and discriminatory nationalism, have turned opposition to immigration into their principal battlefield, seeking to block migrants’ entry into Europe.

Existing legislation neither prevents Europe from suffering labor shortages nor spares it from tragedy. Every week, dozens of bodies wash ashore on Spanish beaches—a stark indictment of the humanist values we claim to defend.

At the regional level, it was recently announced that by 2100 the Azorean population—currently around 240,000—will have shrunk by 100,000 people. If nothing is done to reverse this trajectory, including through immigration, the combined effects of aging and demographic winter will reach dramatic proportions. According to Portugal’s National Statistics Institute (INE), the most recently assessed effective growth rate stands at just 0.37 percent—the lowest in the country and well below the national average of 1.16 percent.

Demography, however, rarely finds its way into political discourse.

Unlike other sectors of public life, there is no dedicated governmental body—no secretariat, regional directorate, or coordinating authority—charged with mobilizing the entire government in the search for solutions.

It is not enough to occasionally allude to the difficulties caused by the failure to retain young people in small and rural communities, nor to lament the population decline that follows.

What is urgently required is that regional and municipal leaders, together with economic actors, revisit the scientific research carried out years ago by the team of sociologists led by Professor Gilberta Rocha of the University of the Azores—as well as studies by scholars from other universities—and translate that knowledge into concrete decisions capable of mitigating the devastating effects of this defining problem.

Azoreans feel the absence of people in their daily lives, and the cause is no longer emigration. There is a shortage of labor for agricultural work, for construction, and even for more specialized professions. The economy suffers, as do health and overall well-being—conditions whose erosion deepens the rejection and abandonment of smaller, more isolated communities.

It falls to governmental authorities to act without delay, so that future generations may live with dignity and health, developing the islands where they choose to put down roots.

To settle for yet another impassioned speech, a conference, a seminar, or a working group is wholly insufficient for a problem of such complexity—one that also afflicts other European regions. Hence the need to study the policies those regions have adopted, so that avoidable mistakes are not repeated.

The Azores, as an archipelagic region, need people—more people endowed with the energy and imagination required to build a promising future.

This is my warning at the dawn of 2026, the year marking the fiftieth anniversary of the First Autonomous Regional Government.

Ponta Delgada, January 1, 2026

José Gabriel Ávila
Journalist, c.p. 239 A

Article in Portuguese…https://escritemdia.blogspot.com/?view=classic

José Gabreil Ávila is a retired journalist with many years of experience at RTP-Açores-the regional public television service. He now maintains a very active blog and writes for several Azorean newspapers.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, giving the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores a sense of the significant opinions 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).