If the existing bureaucracy is difficult to understand and manage by Portuguese residents (…) what is it like for foreign residents who often have a limited understanding of the Portuguese language?
At a time when the issue of foreign residents in Portugal is gaining prominence in public and political discussions, we should remember that the Algarve has had a large foreign resident population for several decades.
Today, the Algarve defines itself as a region whose identity is formed by a symbiosis of Portuguese and foreign residents.
The foreign population living in the Algarve participates in civil society and makes a decisive contribution to the economic and social development of the region. However, while the Portuguese resident population and Algarve businesses have adapted naturally to this reality and integrated the foreign population living in the Algarve, the public sector has overlooked the importance of the community and continues to make no effort to adapt to the reality and integrate the community.
The total collection of taxes, contributions and fees from the Algarve’s 16 municipalities amounts to more than 385 million euros. A huge slice of these hundreds of millions of euros is financed by the foreign community in the Algarve, both resident and non-resident, through contributions, among others, in IMI (Municipal Tax), IMT (Property Transaction Tax) and IRS (Income Tax) from this community.
The importance of the community to the Algarve is demonstrated by the most recent SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service) figures for 2021, which show a resident foreign population of 105,142 in the region, equivalent to 22.5 per cent of the total resident population in the Algarve.
Given the weight of this community, as well as the importance of direct and indirect contributions via funding from taxes and direct civil society donations, the question that arises is, how do we get to 2024 and still don’t see any attempt to integrate this community by the Algarve’s municipalities.
How is it acceptable that, in 2024, there are no websites for the Algarve’s local councils in foreign languages, nor any support offices for integrating the community?
If the existing bureaucracy is difficult to understand and manage by Portuguese residents in the Algarve, one wonders what it is like for foreign residents who often have a limited understanding of the portuguese language.
The Portuguese are a people of emigrants, and the Portuguese diaspora is made up of more than five million people around the world, equivalent to 40% of the population living in Portugal. In the light of our knowledge of emigration, we should focus the debate on the importance of good integration!
Rather than debating whether the lack of housing for Portuguese residents is due to the acquisition of housing by foreigners living in the Algarve, we should instead focus the debate on how to harness the immense potential of the region and our young people, as well as improving the integration of the foreign resident community into civil society and empowering them to actively participate politically in the region.
The future development of the Algarve depends on the economic and social contributions, as well as the dynamism and knowledge of the foreign resident community, so that our young Portuguese residents are not forced to emigrate due to a lack of economic prospects and the absence of meritocracy.
On March 10, 2024, there will be legislative elections to elect the Portuguese parliament. As a result of the current electoral law, the resident foreign community will not be able to take part in this electoral act, leaving the fate of 22.5% of the resident Algarve population at the mercy of third parties.
We need to set a course for the Algarve! A course that takes advantage of the immense resources in the region and empowers the Algarve with a voice, freedom, transparency and economic opportunities. An Algarve of everyone and for everyone!
Opinion article by João Apolónia
Algarvian – Businessman – Candidate for the Iniciativa Liberal party for the Faro constituency
