«We are at a turning point in relation to the Algarve, we will have rare opportunities in the coming years», guaranteed the Prime Minister António Costa this Thursday, the 2nd, in the late afternoon, at the opening of the Exhibition Center of Fortaleza de Sagres.
The head of government recalled that "the Algarve already has two community frameworks, at least, which was not considered a region of cohesion and therefore was heavily penalized in the allocation of community funds". So much so that, «within the framework of Portugal 2020, which is now coming to an end», the Algarve only had «access to 318 million euros». But this is a situation that will change.
«We now have a framework of opportunities, the result of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, but also of the negotiation that it was possible to do for Portugal 2030, which will provide the Algarve in the coming years with resources substantially superior to those we had», stressed the Prime Minister .
Currently, 283 million euros have already been contracted in the region, under the PRR, «mainly in the areas of Health, Infrastructure and Business Capitalization and Innovation», while «in the new framework of Portugal 2030», the region «will have 780 million euros», There is, therefore, «a doubling of European funds», stressed António Costa.
Classifying Sagres as «a starting point» and a «marking place of our national identity», the Prime Minister added that the Exhibition Centre, open since last November, which only officially opened this Thursday, «is certainly an excellent example of how the development of the territory, regional development and our cohesion also involve valuing these cultural elements».
«This is an important mark and that is why one of the decisions that we took today, in the Council of Ministers, in the reform that we made of the CCDR, is the valorization of culture as a strategic element of each of the regions», he added.
«This is particularly important in a region where the tourist component has a very significant weight in its development, based mainly on the offer of sun and beach. Now, the tourist offer in the Algarve has to diversify, within the framework of the economic diversification of the entire region», defended the head of government.
For all these reasons, António Costa also pointed out, «it would be difficult to find a more inspiring place to set out on this adventure for the coming years than this symbolic place in Sagres. If from here it is possible to imagine that we are leaving for the world, it is not difficult to imagine that we are able to leave to complete the execution of 2020, execute the PRR and Portugal 2030».
Furthermore, he added, “this interpretation center is an excellent example of how we can, with our eyes today, with our conscience today, interpret our History, in its diversity and in all its facets”.
«The verse by Pessoa that is inscribed on the façade, saying that the Earth must be only one and that the sea does not separate it but unites it, is perhaps a very important message, in this world where so many people want to dig ditches or create walls. Realizing that there is only one Earth, that there is only one humanity and it is together that we must move forward», concluded Prime Minister António Costa.
The inauguration of the Exhibition Center of Fortaleza de Sagres, which culminated the two days of “Government + Next” in the Algarve, was also attended by three ministers – of Culture, Territorial Cohesion and Science – and a Secretary of State (from Culture), as well as mayors from across the region, the regional director of Culture and other members of this body, the presidents of the Commission for Coordination and Regional Development and the Algarve Tourism Region, among other officials.
There was also a small but noisy demonstration by a dozen teachers, kept at a distance by the authorities.
At the ceremony, the mayor Rute Silva recalled the «walls made of time, sea and world», underlining that one of the symbols of the new structure is a door, «old and persistent», but also «door to new opportunities».
The mayor took the opportunity to claim better «accessibility conditions», namely the «requalification and infrastructure of the EN268», in the urban section of the entrance to Sagres.
But he also spoke of ongoing investments in the area of Culture, such as the Celeiro da História Museum, at the county seat, in Vila do Bispo, for whose inauguration, towards the end of the year, he invited the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture.
Rute Silva also announced the creation of the Research Reception Center in Vila do Bispo, which will be «headquarters, laboratory and home for researchers who explore our territory».
The mayor also expressed willingness to define a "common strategy for the integrated enhancement and structured promotion of the cultural offer of the municipality of Vila do Bispo", involving the municipality and the Regional Directorate of Culture. She even challenged this entity to establish a protocol «within museology and the network of museums and interpretation centres». Adriana Nogueira, regional director of Culture, readily accepted.
Pedro Adão e Silva, Minister of Culture, after recalling the high amount of investment made in the Exhibition Center of Fortaleza de Sagres («close to 4 million euros»), stressed that heritage is not a «dead file».
For this reason, said the government official, it is «significant that we end the visit [to the exhibition center] in a space dedicated to contemporary art», in this case, the exhibition «Territorios Invisíveis», by the artist Manuel Baptista. A kind of link between the evocation of the past and the future.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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