The parishes of the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira can now apply for reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred to contain and limit the spread of Covid-19 in 2020.
The possibility, granted following a retreat by the Government of the Republic, was contemplated with Order No. 5071/2023, published this Tuesday in the Official Gazette, and which provides for a maximum total amount of eligible financing expenses up to 75,000 euros per parish.
Initially, the Support Parishes Programme, whose regulation was approved through Order No. 3483/2023 of the Minister of Finance and the Secretary of State for Local Administration and Spatial Planning (published in the Official Gazette of March 17 of this year), stipulated that only the parishes of mainland Portugal were eligible.
The “discrimination,” as it was understood by the regional governments, the National Association of Parishes (ANAFRE), and some parties, generated controversy, and the Government of António Costa ended up extending the scheme to the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
