Ponta Delgada, Portugal, Oct. 1, 2025 (Lusa) - The preliminary proposals for the Azores Plan and Budget for 2026 earmark €403 million for tourism development, mobility, and infrastructure, specifically for the public inter-island air and sea transport service, energy efficiency, and renewable energy sources.
According to the documents to which the Lusa news agency had access today, the figures for next year, which are €65 million higher than those for 2025, earmark €79.6 million in public investment for public inter-island air and sea transport services, €66.4 million for energy efficiency and renewable energies, €62.5 million for implementing the Recovery and Resilience Plan and €50.9 million for modernising, building and managing infrastructures.
The sum of €49.5 million is earmarked for recovering from the effects of the Lorenzo storm on port and freight infrastructures and €17.9 million is earmarked for port and airport infrastructures and equipment.
Investments are planned for Pico airport (improving operations and safety, including the purchase of a fire-fighting vehicle), São Jorge aerodrome (improving operations and safety, purchasing a fire-fighting vehicle and remodelling the aerodrome's sanitary facilities), Graciosa aerodrome (improving operations and safety and purchasing a fire-fighting vehicle) and Corvo aerodrome (improving operations and safety, including the replacement of the runway fence).
Various marinas and ports in the region are also being worked on, as well as regional roads, the creation of land logistics circuits and work on school buildings, hospitals and health centres, among others.
‘Promoting energy efficiency in society and in the various sectors of activity, with a view to rationalising energy consumption and reducing energy costs’ and ‘encouraging the purchase of equipment to produce electricity and heat from renewable sources, essentially for self-consumption, by families, companies, cooperatives, non-profit associations and Private Social Solidarity Institutions’ are also priorities.
The financing of investments under RePowerEU ‘to encourage the purchase and installation of storage systems complementary to the photovoltaic systems financed by SOLENERGE’ and the implementation of the Plan for Electric Mobility in the Azores (PMEA), ‘as a strategic energy and environmental policy option, given its important role in achieving sustainable development goals, decarbonising the economy, mitigating the effects of climate change and improving energy efficiency’, are other measures included in the documents.
In tourism, the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) is committed to the sustainable promotion of the Azores destination and the development of a strategy for the sustainability of the Azores tourist destination, in accordance with the Azores Tourism Strategic and Marketing Plan (PENTA) 2030.
The preliminary proposals for the Azores Plan and Budget for 2026 define the implementation of EU funds as an “unavoidable desideratum” and foresee an overall public investment of €1.191 billion, with €990.9 million to be implemented directly by the Regional Government.
The documents were sent by the Azorean government on Tuesday to the Island Councils and the Economic and Social Council, with a deadline for submission to the Regional Assembly of 30 October.
The Azores Plan and Budget for 2026 will be discussed and voted on in the Regional Assembly in November.
ASR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
