President of the Republic's visit to the Azores ended in Santa Maria with space sector as backdrop - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

The President of the Regional Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, expressed his satisfaction on Sunday with the President of the Republic's visit to the Region. The island of Santa Maria was the last stop of the trip, which included visits to the Teleport and the Atlantic Network of Geodynamic and Space Stations (RAEGE).

On the occasion, the Head of State discussed the development of the sector with José Manuel Bolieiro, in a final assessment of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's four-day visit, highlighting the Azores as a "region of opportunities" that "needs to be understood by the country and by the European Union."

In the morning, the President of the Republic had been in São Jorge, where he was inducted as a member of the Confraria do Queijo de São Jorge (a brotherhood formed to promote São Jorge cheese).

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited seven of the nine islands of the Azores during his visit to the region, with only Flores and Corvo remaining to be visited. However, this was not the last visit by the President of the Republic to the Region during his term of office, as José Manuel Bolieiro announced that he would be returning to visit the two western group islands.

New economies, science and technology were key elements of the visit. On Saturday, it covered the islands of Graciosa and São Miguel, where the President of the Republic attended the opening of the Azores Beef Fest 2025, dedicated to the excellence of Azorean beef, visited the village of Rabo de Peixe, meeting with locals, particularly fishers, and met with José Manuel Bolieiro at the Sant’Ana Palace.

On the occasion, the President of the Government praised Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's "special sensitivity" regarding the "shared co-management of the sea and space."

He justified this by saying: “It is only fair that, in the environmental and economic spheres, we should have the right to co-management and shared management of these new areas of the economy and the economies of the future. For this reason, I also want to have this European, national, political and jurisdictional sensitivity. I have been working towards this.”