We are in 2030.
The Algarve has developed a lot, completely changing the paradigm on which it was based in the first two decades of this century.
In fact, as we remember, our economy depended essentially on tourism and related activities, with a marked seasonality. The manpower needed for these activities to work was, for the most part, not very specialized.
The “batch” of graduates, who left the University every year, ended up entering the job market through the occupation of these same jobs, which was a great waste, at all levels.
Furthermore, the main answers that the public administration (central and deconcentrated) gave, in practically all areas, were not the best, almost always uncoordinated and out of time. From health to land use planning, through education and regulation/supervision of private initiative activities, evidence proliferated that the system was sick.
There was a daily waste of public resources, resources that were already so scarce at that time...
In addition to not giving an answer, the highly centralized State made life difficult for private individuals, tying them up with taxes whenever it was “suspected” that they might be getting rich, or preventing them from freely developing their business ideas.
I remember with a complete absence of nostalgia, the time it took to obtain a license to build, to invest, or to open any kind of business, or the taxes on tourism and local accommodation. At the time, it was so difficult to explain this to foreigners who visited us and who saw in us so many wasted opportunities…
Our health system was highly deficient, not covering the needs of residents or the health care of those who occasionally visited us.
The public transport system was chaotic. By bus or train, it was very difficult to get around the Algarve. The only solution was own transport. Once again what a waste it was on all levels!
We often drove around in vehicles occupied only by its driver, flooding the air with toxic gases and wasting energy that could be used in another way! But even so, riding in a car was an adventure.
The only “less bad” road (because it certainly wasn't that good was the route, the bumps, its lighting and winding) cost a lot of money, and the others, almost all, were full of problems: potholes, signaling, etc. And to “help the party”, the landscapes (graffited, abandoned, ruined buildings, etc.) showed that those who were supposed to take care of them didn't.
Fortunately this doesn't happen anymore. Although there is no full employment, things are clearly better. And that was good for everyone! In 10 years, we have doubled the resident population and the number of tourists is now 6 times greater than then. And all because we were able to do something so simple and yet so complicated for the time.
We became ATTRACTIVE. We created DIMENSION.
We stopped complaining about everything and often about nothing. We stopped asking for more money from the European Union, which considered us a rich region, without actually being so. Today, we are – proudly – a rich region! Today, we have medium and large companies with a strong technological and environmental innovation bent, headquartered in the Algarve, and employing thousands of people.
Today, we are able to maximize the use of the natural resources we have at our disposal: the sea and the sun are no longer just “for the English to see”!
Markets today function more freely, there are fewer taxes, fees and taxis, but that does not mean that the functions of the State are not being fulfilled. Quite the opposite! Today, the state spends less and spends better.
The Public Sector today lets good ideas flourish and helps those who want to invest in the Algarve. We have fewer employees in municipalities and public bodies, but this only happens because the private labor market has become more attractive. It was the people who – freely- ended up leaving the public service for the private.
Our main problem has always been a problem of dimension. And quality. And with quality we were able to achieve dimension! Today, we have more consumption, more investment, more savings, simply because we have more people in the Algarve!
It is true that the money the State spends in the Algarve is much higher than it was 10 years ago. But the Central State finally realized that each euro placed here earned it 6 or 7 times more in tax revenue than in any other region of the country.
Today, we are a truly rich region, which has not had to ask anyone for money. Nor was it subjugated to the decisions that often came from, it was not clear from where, but which were not beneficial to our region.
We did something so simple, but at the same time so difficult at the time: we tried to organize ourselves, to re-qualify ourselves, to make ourselves attractive, in all areas. We've been planning for years without putting it into practice. But once we did it, its positive effects were so good, and it happened so fast!
The Algarve is still in fashion, but today it is in fashion, because it is really good for everything: for work, for studying, for living and for vacations!
Thanks to a concerted effort between public and private, it was possible to bring to the Algarve large, highly innovative investments that allowed the creation of young and qualified employment. The great infrastructures, claimed for so many years, were finally created.
The Hospital Central do Algarve, along with the creation of new modern health units, some public but many of a private nature, scattered throughout the region, came to provide an excellent response in terms of healthcare provision.
The roads were all reclassified, the A22 is now free to use. Public transport is currently used by 70% of the fixed and floating population for their regular and daily journeys. This is because today, the light rail, the bus, the train, are no longer under the management of different entities and are today a truly dynamic and efficient transport network at the service of people.
Its schedules, as well as its flow, are adjusted to the needs, which has brought us benefits at all levels. Something that had already been indicated as extremely relevant in the spring of 2015, by the Regional Delegation of the Algarve of the Order of Economists, in its document “For a Regional Economy – guidelines for an economic development model for the Algarve”.
Tourism was a tourism with a weak culture of identity and, because of that, it competed with other markets that had nothing to do with us, such as Turkey or Egypt, except for the fact that they were bathed in salt water and had luxury hotels. medium size.
Today, the Algarve, as a whole, attracts a lot of people, because of the quality that we all knew it had, amplified, re-qualified and, effectively, improved. Our sun and beaches continue to contribute strongly to the arrival of tourists, but everything else, from gastronomy to outdoor sports, is equally valued, and our mild climate, combined with our proximity to the main cities in Europe make the Algarve what it used to be, but today it is even more: the main tourist destination in the country.
And thanks to the creation of a strong image as a destination, today tourist flows are less seasonal and we are able to attract people of all ages to enjoy the best we have here, all year round. And we have so much, so much good!
We don't solve all our problems, that's for sure. But the main thing, which was to have a more robust economy, the result of a more diversified productive organization, to have weight, to be economically sustainable and generators of wealth, all of this, we were able to achieve in a decade… And what a decade! Even the political class, which was much criticized at the time, achieved supra-partisan points of convergence that made it possible for all this to happen. And today, we are a stronger voice, because we have politicians who represent a stronger region.
I wish I could go back to 2019 and know what I know today, to take advantage of all the opportunities that were “at hand to sow”…
Author Claudio Lima
Member of the Order of Economists – Algarve Delegation
Specialty: Business Economics and Management
Who is Claudio Lima?
Born in Paris in 1975, he currently lives in Loulé, but says he has a very special connection to Quarteira, where he studied, lived, married and saw the birth of his two children.
He has a degree in Business Management and a postgraduate degree in Project Management in Partnership, both completed at the University of Algarve, and which earned him his enrollment in the Ordem dos Economistas.
His professional career began in a software company in Almancil, in 1998, 20 years ago, and since then he has done a little of everything, from trainer, consultant, accountant, financial and human resources manager, in various organizations , public and private.
He is currently Director of the General Administration Department at the Algarve Tourism Region.
He likes to read and practice outdoor sports, especially running.
He is considered to be in love with the Algarve.
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