Azores Situation Report Wednesday 17th September 2025

Three tourists rescued after attempting to circumnavigate Lagoa do Fogo along the ridges

On Sunday night, Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters rescued three young Spanish women, aged 28 to 31, who got lost on an unauthorized trail in the Lagoa do Fogo area. The rescue operation, which lasted over six hours and involved more than 10 firefighters from Ribeira Grande and Vila Franca do Campo, raises the question of whether rescues on unapproved trails should be paid for.

The alert was given at 4:35 pm on Sunday. The tourists began their route at Pico da Barrosa, aiming to circumnavigate the Lagoa do Fogo crater along the ridges. However, they got lost in the Lombadas area at Pico da Vela, without appropriate clothing or essential items like a portable charger or flashlight. They descended to the waterline but then climbed back up to the ridges, eventually stopping at a point where further ascent was impossible. Firefighters instructed them to return to the waterline due to the steep ravine. When found, the tourists were physically fine, with only a few scratches.

José Nuno Moniz, the commander of the Ribeira Grande Volunteer Firefighters, emphasized that people should pay for rescues on unapproved trails. He noted that there are many approved trails on the island, making it difficult to understand why rescues on non-approved trails occur. He also highlighted the risks involved in such rescues, especially in adverse weather conditions.

The rescue operation involved a first team from Lombadas and another team from Barrosa. The first team eventually found the tourists after navigating through dense vegetation. The ridges of Lagoa do Fogo have abandoned shortcuts that may mislead tourists into thinking they are trails.

Air Force rescues man on Pico Mountain

Last Saturday, the Air Force rescued a 51-year-old man who needed urgent medical assistance while hiking on Pico Mountain. The alert was issued by the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service. The man was at an altitude of approximately 2,150 meters on a steeply sloping cliff, making rescue operations difficult. Despite the challenging conditions, the rescue mission was successful, and the man was transported to Ponta Delgada hospital for medical care.

IPMA raises the warning for the islands of the Western Azores group to orange

The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) raised the warning level to orange in the Western group of the Azores due to heavy rainfall, which may be accompanied by thunderstorms. The approach of a cold frontal surface with waves will worsen weather conditions in the Western (Flores and Corvo) and Central (Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa, and Terceira) groups. Heavy rainfall is expected in the Western group, especially in the early hours of Wednesday, prompting the orange warning.

 

 

Situation Report Azores Wednesday 10th September 2025

 

By our correspondent from the Azores

The Azores lack sufficient mountain guides to meet tourism demand.

The Azores do not have enough guides to meet the demand for visitors to Pico Mountain, which saw an 18% increase in 2024.

Data collected since 2022 – the moment from which management of Casa da Montanha, in Pico, passed to the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action – reveal that demand “has been growing, with an increase of around 18% in 2024 compared to 2023”.

Although 22 natural park guide courses were held in the Azores, across all the islands, and three mountain guide courses were held on Pico between 2015 and 2020, enabling the training of “more than fifty mountain guides to date”, the Ministry states that, “for various reasons, many of the mountain guides trained during that period do not work as guides on Pico”.

According to the regional secretariat, this factor “has been causing a shortage of human resources for companies to meet the demand for visitors, especially during the high season.”

Pico Mountain is very popular with tourists during peak season, and the climb can be done with a guide or independently, provided certain rules are followed to ensure visitor safety.

The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action has opened pre-registration for the Pico Island Natural Park Guide and Mountain Guide courses, and registration is also open for the Azores Natural Park Guide training, scheduled to take place “in the last quarter of this year”.

Currently, the regulations for access to Pico Mountain define a maximum capacity of 320 visitors per day and 160 visitors simultaneously, with overnight stays in the crater limited to 32 visitors per day.

Rita Rico is the new United States Consul in the Azores

Last week, Rita Rico took office as Consul at the United States Consulate in Ponta Delgada.

Since last August, the diplomatic mission of the United States of America (USA) in Portugal has had new faces and, at the Consulate in Ponta Delgada, Rita Rico succeeded Meg Campbell as the new Consul for the Azores.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Rita Rico holds a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the USA, a master’s degree from the University of Guadalajara in Mexico, and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, also in the USA.

Before joining the State Department in 2010, the new U.S. Consul in the Azores served as a senior advisor in the U.S. Senate.

In recent years, Rita Rico served as Strategic Communications Advisor and Speechwriting Supervisor for the U.S. Ambassador in London, United Kingdom.

In 2022, the US Consul completed a one-year Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellowship (TDF) program and a mission to the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Prior to her assignment in the UK, Rita Rico was Special Advisor to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy in Washington, DC.

He subsequently held diplomatic posts in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Caracas (Venezuela), Nairobi (Kenya) and Santiago (Chile).

Around 400 operators from four countries will train in search and rescue in the Azores until Friday.

Around four hundred military personnel and civilians are participating, from today (Monday) until Friday, in an advanced search and rescue exercise in the Azores, which brings together entities from Portugal, Spain, the United States and Canada.

“To ensure that the procedures in place are adequate to accomplish the intended mission, the only reasonable way is to conduct an exercise that brings together these training audiences to work for a week in a location that will be our area of ​​operations if there is a major accident,” Major General António Moldão, commander of the Azores Air Zone, has said.

Since 2015, the ASAREX exercise has been held annually in the Azores, with alternating coordination between the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, and the Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) of Lajes, on the island of Terceira.

This year, the exercise departs from Air Base No. 4, in Lajes, and involves air assets from three countries.

From Spain, a Super Puma arrives from the Canary Islands and a C-235 from Madrid, and from Canada a C-295.

In addition to the resources assigned to BA4, in Lajes, the exercise also involves a C-130 from Air Base number 6, in Montijo, and a P3 Cup, a long-range aircraft, from the Portuguese Air Force.

Between Spanish and Canadian military personnel, Portuguese and American military personnel from Lajes Base, Portuguese Navy personnel, and personnel from other entities, “between 350 and 400 people” will be directly involved in the exercise.

According to António Moldão, Portugal “has a very broad area of ​​responsibility,” bordering eight countries, so it is important to involve entities from those countries in this exercise.

The objective is to test the “coordination of search and rescue resources if there is a need for a more muscular intervention, resulting from a serious accident with an aircraft or a ship, which requires the collaboration of friendly and neighbouring countries”.

“The procedures we have in place are generally sound and will allow us to resolve the situations we have identified, but opportunities for improvement may arise and will be implemented,” the commander noted.

For a week, search and rescue scenarios will be tested at night, with the Canadian C-295 aircraft, and high-altitude rescue scenarios, on Pico Island, with the Canary Islands helicopter.

Search and rescue missions at sea are also planned, which will also involve naval resources from the Portuguese Navy, and simulated air accidents, with multiple casualties, to train coordination with Civil Protection and other entities in the Azores.

“The scenarios were built to meet the primary mission training needs of each of the search and rescue units involved,” explained António Moldão.

For the commander of the Azores Air Zone, “the strategic relevance of the archipelago is linked to geography, and it is immutable.”

“It is essential for Portugal to have a robust Air Force presence in the archipelago, and that is what we have been doing and will continue to do,” he stressed.

Regardless of the geostrategic importance that the Lajes Base may have for foreign countries, the archipelago is strategic, first and foremost, for Portugal, argued António Moldão.

“We are primarily responsible for search and rescue, but we are also an essential entity for transporting patients between islands and to the mainland. When someone needs to be extracted from the sea quickly, there’s only one way to do it: a helicopter,” he emphasized.

In addition to the Air Force and Navy, the GNR, PSP, Regional Civil Protection Service and Firefighters of the Azores, Firefighters of Madalena, Pico Island, Atlânticoline, Azores Sea School and Mutualista Açoreana also participate in the exercise.

 

 

 

 

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 3rd September 2025

Woman dies near Santo António fishing port

A 44-year-old woman died near the fishing port of Santo António, on the north coast of the municipality of Ponta Delgada, the National Maritime Authority reported.

The causes of the incident are currently unknown, according to a press release from the National Maritime Authority.

According to the statement, the Ponta Delgada Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Delgada) received an alert at 4:39 p.m., immediately activating the crew of the Ponta Delgada Lifeguard Station, as well as members of the Ponta Delgada Maritime Police Local Command and the Ribeira Grande and Ponta Delgada Volunteer Fire Departments.

“Upon arrival at the scene, it was found that the victim, who was lying face down in the water, had been promptly removed by the Ribeira Grande Volunteer Fire Department. The Lifeguard Station crew subsequently transported her to the port of Ponta Delgada, where the Health Officer issued a death certificate,” the statement from the National Maritime Authority adds.

The Ponta Delgada Fire Department subsequently transported the body to the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital, after contacting the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Hydrographic plans prohibit swimming in lagoons

Watershed management plans for the lakes on São Miguel Island—including Sete Cidades, the site of two deaths in the space of 12 days—expressly prohibit bathing. The Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change has placed several signs on the banks of the lakes warning of this prohibition. The Parish Council President appeals to the public for common sense and responsibility.

Two schools in the Azores with bilingual education

For the first time, in the 2025/26 academic year, two Azorean schools will begin teaching in Portuguese and English.

The new school year in the Azores brings with it a set of pedagogical innovations that mark a turning point in the regional education system.

According to Sofia Ribeiro, Regional Secretary for Education, Culture, and Sports, during the public presentation of the school year’s preparations, two Azorean schools—EB1 Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island, and Escola Básica e Secundária de Velas, in São Jorge—will implement bilingual instruction in Portuguese and English for the first time. The project begins with three first-grade classes and aims to expose students to early exposure to English, integrating it naturally into their daily school life.

Another new development this year is the expansion of the Computational Thinking project, which now extends to the 4th grade of primary school. This measure means that all initial primary education, from 1st to 4th grade, will now be covered by this approach, which focuses on developing logic, programming, and problem-solving skills.

Also in the digital realm, the dematerialization of school textbooks takes a decisive step this year: all students from 5th to 12th grade will have access to digital textbooks, progressively replacing paper textbooks.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 27th August 2025

25% more nursing consultations in the ICU

In 2024, the region’s nine Ilha Health Units (USI) performed more than 660,000 nursing consultations, a 25% increase compared to the previous year. Medical consultations saw a slight decrease.

Transinsular with new ship and weekly flight to the Azores from September

Shipping operator Transinsular will launch a new service and increase maritime transport capacity to the Azores, with a new vessel and weekly frequency starting in September.

Azores thermal spas sought by 150,000 people in 2024

In 2024, Azorean thermal spas welcomed around 150,000 national and international users, demonstrating the “extraordinary success” of thermalism in the archipelago, according to the Azores Thermal Spa Association.

In the Autonomous Region of the Azores, 50 thermal phenomena have been identified, and there are eight active spas.

The association’s president, Luísa Pereira said that last year, “mainland spas registered around 80,000 users,” and in the Azores, around 150,000 were registered, demonstrating “the extraordinary success of thermalism” in the archipelago.

“In my opinion, this success is due to simple balneotherapy, which is the phenomenon well known as the Dona Beija phenomenon, the Caldeira Velha Park, or the Terra Nostra [Park],” in the municipalities of Povoação and Ribeira Grande, on the island of São Miguel, she explained.

Balneotherapy “consists of frequenting or using thermal water outdoors, in a pool or complex,” most of which are thermal tanks.

“And this value is truly what makes thermal spas in the Azores a true success,” resulting in the archipelago’s user numbers far exceeding those on mainland Portugal.

Luísa Pereira added that in the Azores, although thermal waters “are empirically recognized for their health benefits,” this completely different practice exists, which is already being replicated in thermal spas on mainland Portugal, demonstrating the practice’s success.

The president of the Azores Thermal Association emphasized that data on the use of thermal spas in 2025 collected so far could “surpass last year,” without providing specific figures.

Regarding the origin of visitors to Azorean thermal spas, they come from “various source markets.”

She added that “a large portion” of users are local residents, while the remainder are visitors from various countries, although there are times when more people from the United States and Canada visit, “due to Azorean emigration.”

“Our diaspora, whenever they come to the Azores, frequent the spas […] and then we have all our source markets. [At] certain times, we have the German market, we also have our Portuguese coming from the mainland, and so there’s a panoply, so to speak, of different cultures and different people.”

The director noted that there are also times when visitors are more French and English, “because thermalism is a global phenomenon, although it is more implicit in the culture of some countries.”

In Portugal, there is “a very vast and significant thermal culture,” she concluded.

According to the president of the Azores Thermal Association, 50 thermal phenomena have been identified in the region (on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira, Faial, Flores, and Graciosa), and there are eight active thermal resorts, three of which are spas (two on São Miguel and one on Graciosa).

There are still two inactive thermal spas: one on the island of Faial (Termas do Varadouro) and another in the municipality of Ribeira Grande (Termas da Ladeira da Velha).

São Miguel has thermal spas in the municipality of Ribeira Grande (Caldeiras and Caldeira Velha), Ponta Delgada (Ferraria, in the town of Ginetes), and in the municipality of Povoação, parish of Furnas (hotel, Terra Nostra Park, Poça da Dona Beija, and the Poça da Dona Silvina foot-washing phenomenon).

On Graciosa, in the municipality of Santa Cruz da Graciosa, the Carapacho spa is active (it reopened in late July).

A thermal spring has also been identified on the island of Flores, while on Terceira Island, with several recognized sites, the thermal spring is being used to produce geothermal energy.