“We currently have 4,080 immigrants officially registered in the Azores, from 97 different nationalities. They are on all nine islands, in all 19 municipalities and in many of the 155 parishes. They have been an important contribution to the integral development of a society”, said José Andrade.

The regional director of the Communities of the Azores was speaking, in Angra do Heroísmo, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Regional Advisory Council for Immigration Affairs.

According to José Andrade, there are “especially significant” immigrant communities in the Azores, but the region welcomes citizens from almost a hundred countries.

“We have more than 800 Brazilians, more than 500 Germans and more than 300 Chinese, but then, in these 97 nationalities, we will find immigrants officially resident in the Azores from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Iran and they are all welcome, if they come for good. They will help us to develop our land”, he added.

In the last two decades, the demand for citizens of other nationalities in the Azores has been increasing and the Azorean executive estimates that the phenomenon will increase in the coming years.

Growing trend

“It is possible to verify that, in the last 20 years, there has been a sustained, progressive growth in the number of immigrants, foreign citizens officially residing in our region. We are, in fact, convinced that this trend will continue in the coming years, considering its most recent evolution”, said José Andrade.

Among the actions developed by the Azorean executive, in 2021, to promote the integration of immigrants, the regional director of Communities highlighted the creation of the project “Escola de Integração”, which, after a pilot experience in the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial , will be extended this year to all the islands in the region.

In 2021, Portuguese courses for speakers of other languages, promoted in collaboration with the Associação dos Imigrantes dos Açores (AIPA), on Terceira island, and with the Regional Cooperative of Solidarity Economy (CRESAÇOR), on São Miguel, covered around four dozen immigrants.

According to the regional director of Communities, new editions of these courses are already being prepared, which, in 2022, should return to Terceira and São Miguel and take place for the first time on the island of Pico.