The president of PSD considered that the Algarve is “a region that clearly feels secondary in the national panorama” and with “a great degree of particularity”, which “ends up being reflected in the lack of a national strategy”.
“The big issues that I was able to capture here, from direct contact with people, are: firstly, a transversal problem in terms of housing, a problem that affects young students, workers, national and non-national, who come here to offer their workforce to be able to provide economic competitiveness to the country and the region and which, often, come up against a highly inflated housing market that does not provide guarantees of being able to cover the income that people have”, he indicated.
The party leader said that another “cross-cutting issue” in the Algarve “is water”, due to the scarcity that affects the region due to the drought, and considered that this matter has been “very neglected”, because “in housing there is a lot of talk about country” and “water is talked about less”, despite it being an “absolutely crucial” topic both for human supply and for economic activities, in particular agriculture.
Montenegro defended the need to draw up a national water management and retention plan and an irrigation plan and assured that he is “very aware of the need to promote sometimes small investments”, such as dams, dams or connections, which allow “greater autonomy.”
Luís Montenegro considered that the last years of socialist management in the country were “marked by indecision, hesitation” and “political zigzags”, without the Government’s “great presentations” ever “seeing the light of day”.
“Speaking of the lack of execution capacity, right here behind me, on Estrada Nacional 125, on this section that connects Olhão to Vila Real de Santo António, the repeated delay in requalification works is an element that brings these populations difficulties in mobility, which brings danger, which brings a lack of attractiveness and conditions for people to settle here too”, he exemplified.
The president of the PSD warned that there is another transversal element in the country and in the Algarve, but that it has “a great specificity” in the region, which is “the issue of Health”, claiming that the “response today from the National Health Service, and even of all the capacity installed in the private and social sector, is insufficient to provide security for those who live here and also for those who visit”.
The Akgarve is definitely secondary in respect of solving its growing water shortages. The Portuguese government will not do anything until the Algarve is a desert. Then its only answer will be to tax people more for water.
By Paolito from Algarve on 18 Nov 2023, 13:11
The issue also is that the Algarve brings in a fair chunk of revenue for the government, Loule Council especially. However this is just swept under the carpet and forgotten. If the tourism industry stopped down here overnight, the government in Lisbon would be in big trouble. As usual it is seen that investment isn't warranted until it all goes wrong and then it is too late. So you can understand why we feel unloved. Maybe a change in which party is in power may help influence this for the better, especially if they try to understand our situation.
By Charles Northover from Algarve on 18 Nov 2023, 20:04