Situation Report Azores 9^th August 2023 

 

 By our Azores correspondent

Sewage flowing into the lagoon of Caldeira do Santo Cristo in São Jorge 

Sewage from homes is flowing into the lagoon of Caldeira do Santo Cristo, on the island of São Jorge, says the president of the Association of Clam Producers.

Caldeira do Santo Cristo has been classified as a nature reserve since 1984, based on several criteria, including its origin and geology, as well as due to the presence of the clam Tapes decussatus.

In 1989 it was transformed into a Special Ecological Area, aiming to safeguard the clam population and maintain the ecological balance of the area.

It is also part of the Ramsar network, being, like the other fajãs of São Jorge, UNESCO Biosphere reserves.

José Borges, president of the Association of Clam Producers of Fajã do Santo Cristo said that there are ancient ruins where summer houses and tourist projects are built where “sewers, kitchens and bathrooms are set up that will drain to the lagoon”.

“The summer houses or local lodgings are all made with septic tanks, facing the lagoon. Once saturated, with the winter rains, and some in the summer, everything comes to the lagoon”, declares José Borges.

In Caldeira do Santo Cristo, a significant community once lived, but today there are only about a dozen permanent inhabitants, which is much sought after by tourists for its natural beauty.

Navy rescues 57-year-old crew member 

A 57-year-old man from Sri Lanka, a crew member of the federal merchant ship Kushiro, sailing about 700 nautical miles south of Ponta Delgada, was rescued on suspicion of having a stroke, announced the Navy.

PSP detains four men in São Miguel 

The Public Security Police (PSP) announced the arrest of four men as part of the regular operational activity carried out by the Police Division of Ponta Delgada.

Three of these individuals, aged between 31 and 35, were arrested in the municipalities of Lagoa, Ponta Delgada and Vila Franca do Campo, one of them for the crime of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, with a BAC higher than 1.20 g/l, and two for the crime of driving without a legal license for the purpose.

According to the PSP, a 42-year-old man was also arrested in the municipality of Lagoa for the crime of introduction in a place closed to the public.

The Public Security Police also reported the arrest of two men, aged 21 and 59, in the municipalities of Santa Cruz da Graciosa and Praia da Vitória, for the crime of driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, with a BAC higher than 1.20 g/l.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 2^nd August 2023 

Tender for privatization of Azores Airlines with two proposals 

The tender for the privatization of Azores Airlines received two proposals, submitted by the Atlantic Consortium and the consortium NewTour/MSAviation, which offered 6.50 euros for each share of the company responsible for connections with the outside of the Azores.

The Atlantic Consortium is formed by Vesuvius Wings, White Airways, Old North Ventures, Consolidador and Euro Atlantic Airways.

The European Commission approved Portuguese state aid to support the airline’s restructuring of 453.25 million euros in loans and state guarantees, providing for ‘remedies’ such as a reorganization of the structure and the divestment of a controlling stake (51%) in Azores Airlines, the SATA group company responsible for flights outside the archipelago.

Beach festivities mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the British military on the island. 

The Beach Festivities, which take place from the 4th to the 13th of August, mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the British Air Force on Terceira Island, in the Azores, with a parade of more than 90 extras.

From Friday to the 13th, Praia da Vitória celebrates its biggest parties with musical shows, processions, traditions, popular marches, exhibitions, bullfighting, sports and gastronomy, among other activities.

One of the highlights of the program is the opening procession, on Saturday night, which attracts thousands of people to the main arteries of the city.

This year, with the theme “From golden wheat to iron birds”, the festivities mark the arrival in Terceira, in 1943, of the Royal Air Force, who built an airstrip in Lajes.

Power failure was due to a problem in a high voltage transport network equipment. 

The interruption in the supply of electricity that affected, on Sunday, several areas of the island of São Miguel, was due to an unpredictable problem in equipment on the high voltage transmission network, which was isolated, after the adoption of security measures, the power was fully restored at 21:49.

 

The Azores Situation Report Wednesday 26th July 2023

Shuttle’ has already transported 18,626 people to Lagoa do Fogo 

A total of 18,626 people have taken the ‘shuttle’ trip to visit Lagoa do Fogo, on the island of São Miguel, in the Azores, since it started operating on June 15th, says the Regional Government.

With ‘shuttle’ transport in access to Lagoa do Fogo, car circulation was limited to residents’ vehicles and prohibited to ‘rent-a-car’ cars.

The ‘shuttle’ is free for residents and costs five euros for non-residents.

This transport service, provided by the company Atlântico Energy, leaves from Caldeira Velha, in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, and ends at Casa da Água, in Lagoa, and then takes the opposite route.

Transport operates on a ‘hop on hop off’ basis and covers approximately 14 kilometres, passing through six tourist attractions, from 9 am to 7 pm, every day of the week, including national, regional or municipal holidays, until the 30th of September.

The day of the week most sought after by visitors to Lagoa do Fogo is Saturday, followed by Monday and Sunday, with Wednesday being the day with the least demand.

The most popular times are from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.

The average number of tickets per day is 454, with the maximum number of tickets sold in one day (863) being recorded on June 19 and the minimum (103) on July 7 (excluding the first two days of operation) of the service.

The ‘shuttle’ service is provided with three buses (initially there were two, until the second half of July, due to technical problems).

Regarding support infrastructures, according to the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Transport of the Azores, there are car parks in Caldeira Velha (capacity for 101 spaces), Casa da Água (60 spaces) and Casa da Água (100 spaces) and two spaces for additional parking (for visitors in their own car/residents) at the Pico da Barrosa viewpoint and at the Lagoa do Fogo viewpoint.

The Tourism Indicator predicts that around 404,000 overnight stays in tourist accommodation will have been recorded throughout the region in June”, reads a publication by SREA, published on its website, referring to overnight stays in traditional hotels, rural tourism and local accommodation.

According to the SREA tourist activity report for June 2022, the region recorded 359,986 overnight stays in that month, a number that had already surpassed the figure for June 2019 (321,184), pre-pandemic of covid-19.

Compared to June 2022, SREA estimates point to a growth of 12.23% in 2023.

Compared to June 2019, the increase is 25.78%, with a difference of more than 82 thousand overnight stays.

The publication also highlights the number of passengers disembarking at Azores airports in June, coming from territorial flights (from mainland Portugal or Madeira) and international flights.

According to data previously revealed by SREA, the Azores recorded in June a record number of passengers disembarking by air, a total of 225,693.

The largest number of landings was passengers from inter-island flights (98,825), which registered a growth of 17.4%, compared to the same month in 2022.

It was among passengers on international flights that there was the biggest increase (33.9%), with a total of 35,195 disembarkations.

Passengers from other regions of the national territory reached 91,673, 10.1% more than in the same period last year.

According to SREA, the Tourism Indicator (TI) “aims to estimate the general evolution of economic activity in the tourism sector in the Autonomous Region of the Azores”.

“The IT-Azores results from the addition of overnight stays recorded in the three types of tourist accommodation and is released about three weeks before the publication of the Tourist Activity highlight”, reads in the publication.

The estimate of overnight stays in hotels, rural tourism and local accommodation “relies to the values ​​recorded in the Survey on Staying Guests in Hotels and other accommodation” and to “extrapolation of trends according to the expected response rate in each case “.

 

The Situation Report Azores Wednesday 19^th July 2023

Human bones found on the coastline of São Miguel in the Azores

The Maritime Police of Ponta Delgada, island of São Miguel, found “human bones” on the coastline of the parish of Relva, but whose origin is still unknown.

In a statement, the National Maritime Authority said that the bones were discovered by a member of the public on Saturday afternoon, who alerted the local command of the Ponta Delgada Maritime Police.

However, despite the steps taken, it was only possible to find the bones this Sunday.

“In view of the sea conditions and the lack of visibility at the site, it was not possible to locate the human bones”, says the same statement, adding that the searches were resumed on Sunday morning, culminating in the discovery of the human bones, which are presumed to be belong to the same person, along the coastline.

According to the National Maritime Authority, the bones were transported by the Volunteer Firefighters of Ponta Delgada to the Institute of Legal Medicine.

The case will now be investigated by the Ponta Delgada Maritime Police Command.

Five arrested suspected of drug trafficking in São Jorge

Three people were held in preventive detention and two with a term of identity and residence because they were suspected of belonging to an alleged drug trafficking network that operated in São Jorge, in the Azores.

According to the Regional Command of the PSP of the Azores, the suspects, arrested “in flagrante delicto” on the 9^th of July, are four men aged between 24 and 57 years and a woman aged 48 years.

The police believe that it was “possible to dismantle a drug trafficking network operating in the municipality of Velas”, after an investigation carried out “over several months”.

It was possible to seize “2,202 individual doses of hashish, 128 individual doses of cannabis, ready for consumption, a monetary amount of 3,636.06 euros, reproductions of firearms and other weapons”, in addition to “objects related to trafficking”, he adds. to PSP in a press release.

The network allegedly operated from two residences located in Vila das Velas, a place “where a significant number of consumers went solely for the purpose of purchasing a narcotic product”, adds the PSP.

The alleged organized group was led by two suspects, who acted in cooperation with two other elements responsible for storing the product and a third suspect who transported the drug by sea to the island of São Jorge.

During this operation, two arrest warrants outside of flagrante delicto, three house search and seizure warrants and two non-domestic search warrants in the municipality of Velas were served. A house search warrant was also served in the municipality of Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island.

The detainees were present at the first judicial interrogation at the Velas Judicial Court.

The operation involved the police from the Velas Police Station, in close collaboration with the Calheta (São Jorge) Police Station, the Criminal Investigation Police Station from Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória (both on Terceira Island) and the Cinotechnical Operational Group of the Força Destacada, of the Special Police Unit.