Azores Situation Report Wednesday 22nd January 2025

Banana from the Azores in the process of being classified as a Protected Geographical Indication

The Açoreana Agricultural Cooperative of Horticultural Producers said it is working on the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) classification of Azorean bananas to promote sustainable growth in the sector and “guarantee product quality.”

The president of Frutaçor, Carlos Araújo, said that the cooperative intends “to register the banana from the Azores as IGP with the aim of promoting the sustainable growth of the crop and guaranteeing the quality of the product, creating a strategy to win over and retain customers who identify it as an IGP banana, giving it notoriety”.

Bad weather causes 13 incidents in the early hours of the morning in the Azores

Bad weather in the Azores caused 13 incidents on the islands of São Miguel, Faial, Terceira and Pico in the early hours of Monday morning, mainly related to falling trees.

According to the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA), eight incidents were recorded on the island of São Miguel, in the municipalities of Ponta Delgada, Povoação and Ribeira Grande.

Three situations occurred on Pico Island, one on Faial Island and another on Terceira Island.

“The incidents are mainly related to falling trees. There are also reports of damage to electricity poles and the roof of a building [bakery],” according to the SRPCBA.

The nine islands of the Azores are under orange and yellow warnings, because of depression Garoe which, according to a statement from the Azores Meteorological Forecast and Surveillance Center of the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), is expected to continue until Tuesday.

Fire destroys hotel unit in the city of Lagoa

A fire destroyed almost the entire Sul Villas hotel unit, located in the city of Lagoa, in the parish of Santa Cruz, this Wednesday night.

According to João Moniz, operational, from the Ponta Delgada Volunteer Firefighters, the fire, due to the materials that make up the hotel infrastructure, quickly spread throughout the hotel, also helped by the force of the wind that at the beginning of the night fed the fire for a few hours.

The causes of the fire, which broke out at around 5:00 pm, are currently unknown and more than two dozen members of the volunteer fire brigades of Ponta Delgada, Ribeira Grande and Vila Franca do Campo were involved in fighting the fire, supported by six fire trucks and two ambulances.

The fire was considered under control at 9:04 pm, and since then work has been underway to extinguish the fire, which forced a firefighter to be evacuated to CUF, in Lagoa, due to physical discomfort resulting from smoke inhalation.

The resident of one of the houses was also treated at the scene due to smoke inhalation.

As a precaution, as stated by the president of the Lagoa City Council, Frederico Sousa, two houses close to the hotel unit were evacuated and their residents were rehoused, during the night, in the homes of relatives.

The mayor of Lagoa also added that the operations on the ground also had the collaboration of PSP agents from the Lagoa police station.

All immigrants now have access to social mobility subsidy in the Azores

All immigrants who have resided in the Azores for more than six months will now have access to the social mobility subsidy, according to an amendment to the law approved unanimously this Friday in the national parliament.

The subsidy in question is intended for air transport between the Azores and the mainland and Madeira, for which beneficiaries pay a reduced price.

The proposal under debate and vote – unanimously approved by the Legislative Assembly of the Azores on December 13th, with reference to entry into force together with the State Budget law for 2025, already published in the Official Gazette – extends access to the social mobility subsidy to all immigrants residing in the Azores for more than six months.

The Regional Government had previously advocated a “clarification” of the law that regulates the social mobility subsidy, to ensure that “all residents” in the archipelago were entitled to support, regardless of nationality.

Until now, by law, the social mobility subsidy only covered Portuguese citizens, citizens of the European Union (EU), States that are part of the Schengen Agreement (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland) and States with which the EU and Portugal have cooperation and friendship agreements (such as Brazil), leaving out a total number estimated at 2,500 people – which, according to the calculations of MP Inês Sousa Real (PAN), meant that more than 60% of immigrants were left out.

In the debate on the proposal held in the Assembly of the Republic, the PS recalled that the exclusion has never been implemented since the social mobility subsidy was created in 2015.

However, with the current Government (PSD/CDS-PP) in office, several immigrants living in the autonomous regions have been excluded in recent months, according to news reports in Diário de Notícias and on RTP’s regional channels in the Azores and Madeira.

The exclusion arises from the fact that CTT – where the refund of the difference between the amount initially paid for the trip and the amount defined for residents is collected – considers that the subsidy in question only covers national citizens, from the European Union or from countries with free movement treaties with Portugal (as is the case of Brazil).

The PSD justified the change with the need to make it clear, in the law, that the subsidy applies to all immigrants who have resided in the region for more than six months.

This is because, in the meantime, a “restricted and rigorous interpretation” of the law has begun to be made, as recalled by deputy Isabel Mendes Lopes (Livre), defending that “no one in the Azores is deprived of the social mobility subsidy”.

“The law was poorly drafted. Fortunately, over the course of nine years, it was never applied, as it is completely unfair,” agreed MP Fabian Figueiredo (BE).

“These 2,500 immigrants living in the Azores are perfectly integrated and in line with the law, it is only fair that they naturally access this mobility subsidy”, highlighted MP Paulo Moniz (PSD), lamenting the “injustice”, which has resulted in “unacceptable, perhaps unconstitutional, discrimination”.