The Regional Government (RG) will reinforce its communication strategy and contacts with the English Government to clarify its epidemiological situation compared to mainland Portugal, said the Regional Secretary for Culture and Tourism, Eduardo Jesus today.
His announcement comes after reports from several British media outlets stating that the UK is closing its ‘air bridge’ with Portugal due to the recent increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.
According to Eduardo Jesus, the Regional Government has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Tourism board, the British Government and the embassies of Portugal and the United Kingdom, ensuring that they have direct contact with the various ‘players’ in order to “clarify the epidemiological situation” of Madeira.
The minister confirmed that, according to the recommendations of the European Commission, countries have an obligation to report internationally the situation that characterises each of their regions. Later,, he went on to criticise the national government for not being able to distinguish that Madeira was different from the rest of mainland Portugal, saying “the Portuguese government is unable to distinguish our reality from theirs, and through this, Madeira has been held hostage to the national situation for a long time. As such, Madeira will reinforce its communication with all competent parties to prevent this from happening again.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
