Eduardo Jesus, the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Culture, has accused the Government of the Republic of “cutting the lines” of communication that Madeira has been trying to build with Europe.
Speaking briefly on the subject, he said that he considers the the State of Portugal is deeply disrespectful towards Madeira, so much so that they have discussed ‘Madeira’ with their Brussels counterparts, in such a way, that is proving detrimental to the region.
Moreover, he believes that Madeira must set itself apart from the Mainland so not to be tainted by association. “The fact that at present Portugal keeps both Lisbon and Porto Airport on a blacklist has a knock on effect as both Madeira and the airports in the Azores are classified under ‘national territory’ rather than as autonomous regions. This situation is potentially damaging the opportunities for increasing tourism, as European aviation information is considered on a ‘national’ level rather than individual airports.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
