Artur Lima supports Autonomous Regions in opposition to National Government centralism - Communication

Vice-Presidência do Governo Regional

The Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima, defended today in Lisbon the position of the Azores and Madeira against the "late, stagnant and unacceptable centralism" of the National Government.

For the Vice-President, "relations between the National Government and the Governments of the Autonomous Regions cannot always be a laborious and difficult task. This is what is happening with the so-called Social Mobility Aid. In these cases, it is best to take drastic measures to settle the matter, and that is what the Governments of the Azores and Madeira must do.”

"The Autonomous Regions must be respected democratically. We must uphold them, only requiring the intervention of the National Government when it comes to its constitutional duties," he stressed.

Artur Lima stated that “the National Government is not doing the Azores any favours with the Public Service Obligations (PSOs),” adding that the Region “must be respected, something that has not been the case with the Social Mobility Aid and the PSOs.”

"We have to fight tooth and nail for what is our right, from this National Government led by the PSD and CDS-PP parties, and that saddens and angers me. They are not doing us any favours," stated the government official. 

In this regard, the Autonomous Region of the Azores "must become truly more autonomous and less dependent on the whims and moods of the National Government," he said.

"This is achieved by strengthening ourselves by uniting internally from Santa Maria to Corvo. Azorean identity is lived in the diaspora, but it must also be lived within the Azores," stressed the Vice-President of the Government.

“If we want to reduce our dependence on Lisbon and PSOs, we must be resilient. The liberalisation of airspace has been positive for tourism in the Region, and a decade later, it is time to consider liberalising the entire airspace of the Azores,” he noted.

"The Azores should demand due compensation from the National Government for the archipelago's geostrategic position, for Portugal being in NATO at our expense, for having the Santa Maria FIR at our expense, and for having the Exclusive Economic Zone at the expense of the Azores and Madeira," he added.

At the launch of the new Terceira - Funchal route at the Better Tourism Lisbon Travel Market in Lisbon, the Vice-President of the Government considered that "SATA has made a great contribution and set a great example of decentralisation by promoting another route between the Azores and Madeira."

The new operation "brings added value to the Azores and contributes both to internal cohesion and to cohesion between the Autonomous Regions, which is essential," emphasised Artur Lima.

The new route between Terceira Island and Funchal will operate from May to October 2026, with one flight per week on Thursdays, increasing to two flights per week between June and September.