The President of the Azorean Parliament warns that constitutional recognition is insufficient if restrictive interpretations continue to limit the islands’ ability to govern themselves.
Autonomy is not merely a promise written into a constitution. It is the living expression of a people’s right to shape their own destiny, to legislate according to their circumstances, and to ensure that the distance separating their islands from the centers of national power does not become a permanent limitation on their democratic aspirations. Fifty years after the establishment of political autonomy in the Azores, that fundamental distinction between constitutional recognition and effective self-government has returned to the center of the regional debate. For Luís Garcia, President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the next revision of the Portuguese Constitution must do more than reaffirm principles already established. It must ensure that the autonomy promised in law is fully respected in practice.
Speaking on Monday, October 26, at the opening of the conference Azorean Autonomy in Democratic Portugal: Assessment and Perspectives, held at the University of the Azores in Ponta Delgada, Garcia warned against constitutional ambiguities and restrictive interpretations that could diminish the legislative and executive authority of the region’s institutions.
“We cannot enter a constitutional revision intending to deepen autonomy and emerge from it with even narrower limits,” he declared.
The two-day conference, taking place October 26–27, is part of the commemorations marking 50 years of Azorean autonomy and brings together academics, researchers, constitutional specialists, and representatives of institutions from the Azores, mainland Portugal, Madeira, and the Canary Islands.
Garcia argued that the forthcoming constitutional revision should clarify the distribution of powers, remove unjustified restrictions, and strengthen the capacity of the region’s elected institutions to exercise their constitutional responsibilities.
For the parliamentary leader, the essential question is whether the autonomy recognized by Portugal’s democratic constitutional framework has been accompanied by sufficient freedom of legislative and governmental action.
“Autonomy cannot exist fully in the constitutional text and be diminished in its application,” he stated.
Garcia expressed particular concern about interpretations of constitutional provisions that, in his assessment, have narrowed the scope of regional powers, including decisions and approaches associated with the Constitutional Court.
He called for clearer constitutional language capable of reducing recurring disputes over the extent of autonomous authority.
The President of the Azorean Parliament also cautioned against treating constitutional reform as a hurried political exercise shaped by immediate partisan interests.
“The next revision cannot be an exercise of circumstance, conducted in haste or subordinated to the conveniences of the political moment,” he said.
Instead, he advocated a carefully prepared process involving political parties, universities, constitutional experts, and younger generations, with the objective of establishing a technically rigorous and broadly supported regional position.
Garcia recalled that the Azorean Legislative Assembly had already developed proposals through Resolution No. 36/2023/A, approved in connection with the constitutional revision process initiated in the Portuguese Parliament.
Among the proposed changes are greater clarity regarding regional legislative authority, stronger powers for the institutions of self-government, abolition of the office of Representative of the Republic, increased regional participation in external cooperation, and enhanced authority over public-domain areas, particularly maritime territory.
The proposed abolition of the Representative of the Republic would represent a significant institutional change, affecting the relationship between the autonomous regions and the Portuguese state.
Maritime governance is another central concern, reflecting the importance of the Atlantic to the Azores’ economic, environmental, and strategic identity.
Garcia emphasized that the 2023 parliamentary work provides a foundation for future constitutional discussions, but should not be regarded as a final or unchangeable document.
“We are not starting from zero,” he said, while acknowledging that the proposals should be revisited, refined, and strengthened.
He also defended reconsideration of the composition of Portugal’s Constitutional Court to ensure greater recognition of the constitutional and institutional particularities of the autonomous regions.
The 2023 Azorean parliamentary proposal included the election of two Constitutional Court judges nominated by the regional legislative assemblies.
For Garcia, such representation would help ensure that the interpretation of constitutional provisions takes proper account of the distinctive realities of island autonomy.
His intervention comes at a significant historical moment.
The 50th anniversary of Azorean autonomy invites reflection not only on the institutional achievements that followed Portugal’s democratic transition, but also on the tensions that remain between national constitutional authority and regional self-government.
Over five decades, the Azores have developed their own elected legislative and executive institutions, established regional public policies, and strengthened their capacity to address the particular economic, social, cultural, and geographical circumstances of an Atlantic archipelago.
Yet the evolution of autonomy has also been marked by continuing disagreements over the boundaries of legislative competence, the relationship between regional and national institutions, and the interpretation of constitutional provisions.
Garcia’s central argument is that these questions should be addressed through constitutional clarity rather than left to recurring legal disputes.
The broader debate raises an enduring question in democratic governance: how can a unitary state preserve national constitutional coherence while allowing autonomous regions sufficient authority to respond to their distinct circumstances?
The answer requires balancing the constitutional responsibilities of the Portuguese Republic with the powers of self-government granted to the Azores and Madeira.
For the Azores, Garcia argued, the objective should be a constitutional framework that makes regional autonomy more effective, predictable, and capable of responding to contemporary challenges.
As the archipelago commemorates half a century of self-government, the discussion moves beyond the historical achievement of autonomy toward the question of its future development.
The islands have traveled a considerable distance since 1976. Their institutions have matured, their political experience has deepened, and their understanding of autonomy has evolved alongside changing social, economic, and international realities.
The next constitutional revision, Garcia maintained, should reflect that accumulated experience rather than introduce additional uncertainty.
Ultimately, the significance of autonomy cannot be measured only by the number of constitutional articles devoted to it. It must also be understood through the practical authority of regional institutions and their ability to respond to the communities they represent.
For an archipelago whose history has been shaped by distance, migration, and the persistent effort to overcome geographical limitations, the meaning of autonomy remains closely connected to the capacity for democratic self-determination within the Portuguese Republic.
Fifty years after its establishment, the debate is therefore not simply about preserving what has been achieved. It is also about defining what autonomy must become in the decades ahead.
And as Luís Garcia reminded participants in Ponta Delgada, the challenge is to ensure that constitutional reform opens possibilities for the future rather than narrowing the horizons of self-government.
Based on remarks delivered by Luís Garcia, President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, on October 26, 2026, at the opening of the conference “Azorean Autonomy in Democratic Portugal: Assessment and Perspectives,” held at the University of the Azores in Ponta Delgada.