Azores Situation Report Wednesday 2nd April 2025

Azores sees second-highest increase in tourism among Portuguese regions in February

The tourist accommodation sector registered 1.8 million guests (+0.6% 2 ) and 4.2 million overnight stays (-2.5%) in February 2025, generating 287.7 million euros in total revenue and 208.8 million euros in revenue from accommodation (+4.0% and +3.4, respectively). Overnight stays by residents decreased by 0.8% (+11.0% in January), reaching 1.4 million, and those by non-residents decreased by 3.3% (+3.9% in January), totaling 2.8 million.

The largest decreases in overnight stays were recorded in the West and Tagus Valley and Greater Lisbon In February, the regions recorded distinct trends in overnight stays, with the largest increases being recorded in the Setúbal Peninsula (+7.8%) and the Azores (+5.1%).

The West and Tagus Valley recorded the largest decrease (-7.1%), followed by Greater Lisbon (-5.6%) and the Algarve (-5.1%). Overnight stays by residents recorded the most significant increases in the Madeira Autonomous Region (+13.6%). The largest decreases occurred in the West and Tagus Valley (-10.4%) and the Algarve (-8.1%).

Overnight stays by non-residents recorded the largest increases in the Setúbal Peninsula (+16.7%) and the Azores Autonomous Region (+15.3%). The largest decreases were recorded in Greater Lisbon (-7.2%) and the Centre (-6.5%). – Data from the National Statistics Institute.

Ponta Delgada traders have “good expectations” for the new tourist season

Ponta Delgada on the list of Portuguese cities where there is the greatest demand for housing by foreigners outside the European Union

Foreigners living outside the EU – such as Brazilians or North Americans, for example – lead the search for houses for sale in Portugal in 15 major cities. In Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, in the Azores, seven out of every 10 foreigners interested in buying a house in our country live outside European borders.

The proportion of international visitors from outside the EU is also higher than 64% in Braga, Coimbra and Viseu.
According to Idealista, most of the international demand for houses to buy in Porto also came from outside the EU (60.4%), as well as in Lisbon (60.2%), according to the same data from idealista/data for the last quarter of 2024.

In Faro, Portalegre, Guarda, Viana do Castelo and Bragança, foreigners living in EU countries were the ones who most sought houses to buy in Portugal.

What is also observed is that, in the last year, there has been an increase in demand for homes to buy by non-EU residents in 11 municipalities, such as Bragança, Porto, Funchal and Lisbon. The evolution of their interest remained practically unchanged in five large cities (Braga, Setúbal, Santarém, Vila Real and Viseu). And it fell in Guarda, Leiria, Ponta Delgada and Castelo Branco

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 26th March 2025

Man dies after being hit by a tree trunk in the Northeast

A 28-year-old man died in the Pico da Vara area, in the municipality of Nordeste, following a work accident that occurred while cutting wood.

According to information from the Northeast Volunteer Firefighters, the wood cutting was being carried out by a private company and the worker died as a result of injuries sustained after being hit by a log.

The alert was given at around 9 am on Wednesday, with firefighters sending two vehicles with seven members to the scene, joined by an Immediate Life Support (SIV) vehicle with two members and a member of the Public Security Police.

Due to the steep terrain, the ambulance was unable to reach the location of the victim of the work accident, but he was eventually rescued using an all-terrain vehicle.

According to the Northeast Fire Department, the 28-year-old man was transported to the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, but despite several attempts to revive him, he ended up dying.

Navy coordinates medical rescue south of São Miguel Island

The Navy coordinated, at 2:58 pm on Wednesday, the medical rescue of a 53-year-old man, who was on board the sailing vessel “IMAGINE”, flying the German flag, sailing approximately 480 nautical miles south of the island of São Miguel.

The crew member, a German national, presented a “clinical condition with a broken arm, requiring urgent hospital medical care”, the Navy said in a press release.

The rescue was carried out by the Portuguese Air Force’s EH-101 helicopter, which transported the patient to Ponta Delgada airport, on the island of São Miguel, where he disembarked at 01:06 this Friday.

The Ponta Delgada Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Delgada), the Air Search and Rescue Centre (RCC Lajes), the Maritime Urgent Patient Guidance Centre (CODU-MAR), an EH-101 helicopter and a P3C aircraft were involved in this operation.

Azores Civil Protection records one injured person and 45 incidents on five islands

The Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) has so far registered one minor injury and 45 incidents on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira, São Jorge, Faial and Pico, due to the recent passage of the Konrad depression through the archipelago.

In a statement, the SRPCBA explains that most of the reported situations “continue to be related to falling and damage to structures, falling trees, road obstructions and falling electrical cables, causing some material damage. There is also a report of a slightly injured person on Terceira Island, who was taken to the health unit”.

The municipalities that are being most affected are Angra do Heroísmo, Praia da Vitória, Horta and Madalena do Pico.

The following entities have been on site to support and resolve the various situations: Firefighters, Regional Directorate of Public Works, Municipal Civil Protection Services and EDA.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday 12th March 2025

Earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale felt in São Miguel

An earthquake measuring 5.3 (Richter), whose epicentre was located approximately 25 km south-southeast of Faial da Terra, was recorded this Tuesday at 7:14 am at the stations of the Azores Archipelago Seismic Network, according to the IPMA

According to information from IPMA, this earthquake was felt but did not cause personal or material damage and was felt with maximum intensity V (modified Mercalli scale) in the
parishes of Rosto do Cão (São Roque), Agua de Pau, Furnas, Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, Povoação and Ponta Garça.

It was also felt with less intensity in the parishes of Santa Barbara, São Pedro, Vila do Porto, on the island of Santa Maria.

Ponta Delgada/Vila Franca expressway in São Miguel, will have speed sensors

The Ponta Delgada/Vila Franca expressway, in São Miguel, is being equipped with speed sensors and more signage to prevent dangerous maneuvers and speeding, the main reasons for the increase in accidents

According to the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure, the regional directorate of Public Works and the company operating the expressway (Euroscut) are evaluating “all possible responses” with a view to creating better road safety and circulation conditions.

Among the measures that are already in place is the placement of a double continuous line on the road with folding pins, vertical signage, on the 2.7 kilometre stretch between the Fischer and Santa Cruz junctions, Lagoa municipality, and the placement of speed sensors, according to the Regional Government.

The measures, according to a note from the executive, aim to “prohibit overtaking and alert drivers to the dangers posed by excessive speed, highlighted by police authorities as being one of the main reasons for the increase in road accidents”.

The expressways granted to Euroscut on the island of São Miguel cover around 90 kilometres and have been the subject of several interventions over the years, in terms of pavements in areas that recorded a concentration of accidents, signage, changes to horizontal paintwork and emergency drills involving tanker trucks (fuel).

According to the Regional Secretariat, solutions were developed to reduce the formation of queues on roads with a high potential for chain collisions and awareness-raising actions aimed at alerting people to the dangers of speeding.

On the other hand, Euroscut has set up “a pilot trial” to reduce chain collisions, which is underway on the Ponta Delgada ring road until the end of March, through mobile panels that warn of the need to pay attention in slow traffic.

The ‘Pilgrims on the Road’ campaign is currently underway, using mobile panels with variable messages and surveillance, so that drivers pay special attention and take precautions on the roads, during the passage of the groups that already travel the roads of São Miguel, fulfilling a Lenten tradition that is over 500 years old.

107 cases of ‘bird strikes’ recorded in 2024

At Ponta Delgada airport alone, 56 incidents were recorded, representing 52.3% of all bird strikes in the Azores. This was followed by Faial (11 incidents) and Terceira (ten incidents).

In 2024, a total of 107 cases of collisions or near-collisions with birds or their ingestion by engines, also known as ‘bird strikes’, were recorded at the nine airports and aerodromes in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, according to data from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC).

At Ponta Delgada airport, on the island of São Miguel, 56 incidents of this kind were recorded, meaning there were more cases of collisions or near collisions with birds or their ingestion by engines at this airport, compared to the other eight airports and aerodromes in the Azores (51 incidents).

In total, it appears that there was an approximate average of five cases of ‘bird strikes’ per month at Ponta Delgada airport.

Between four and eleven occurrences of bird strikes were observed at the remaining eight airports and aerodromes in the Region in 2024.

After Ponta Delgada, which, with its 56 occurrences, represented 52.3% of the total number of bird strikes in the Azores, comes the airports of Faial (11 occurrences), Terceira (ten occurrences), Flores (eight occurrences), Graciosa (seven occurrences), São Jorge (six occurrences), Pico (five occurrences) and Corvo (four occurrences), according to ANAC statistics, relating to the year 2024.

Several cases of bird collisions with aircraft were recorded on the island of São Miguel at the beginning of January.

ANA Aeroportos de Portugal then revealed that João Paulo II Airport, in Ponta Delgada, “has seen an increase in the presence of birds in its vicinity”, one of the phenomena that may have contributed to the two incidents of bird collisions with aircraft recorded in January – which involved a SATA plane and another from Ryanair.

ANA explains that it attributes this increase in the presence of birds “to several natural factors, including migratory patterns, food availability, weather conditions and seasonal variations and limitations in pest control methods”, adding that “environmental factors external to the Airport also play a significant role in these changes”.

 

Azores Situation Report Wednesday March 5 2025

Battle of Limes on Carnival Tuesday in Ponta Delgada brings generations together

Hundreds of people in trucks, or on foot, once again fill the waterfront of the city of Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, today to take part in the traditional Batalha das Limas, a carnival tradition unique to the country, which brings together generations.

This is the case of Pedro Viegas, who has been participating in the battle since 1986 and has never missed “a fight”.

It was the first time with his older brother, who for years organized some trucks that participated in the fight at the Battle of Limas.

“I’ve never missed a year,” he told Lusa, explaining that the tradition has grown “year after year” within the family.

Every year, the Battle of Limas attracts hundreds of people to the city of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, for a water fight.

The battle starts at 2:00 pm, implying traffic restrictions on the Ponta Delgada waterfront, and only ends at 7:00 pm.

In recent years, the Ponta Delgada local authority has implemented rules for the Battle of Limas that aim to reduce the environmental impact of the tradition, as well as limiting and protecting the area where the carnival event takes place.

After the battle, and as has been customary over the years, the local authority’s cleaning teams have also been on the ground and the participants in the trucks also help to clean up and separate the waste.

This year, nine teams and 10 trucks will take part in the battle.

To preserve and “maintain this tradition of generations, unique in the world, recycling it for future generations”, the Cultural and Recreational Association of Batalha das Limas was created on the island of São Miguel, a non-profit organization, as stated on the official Facebook page of this movement responsible for organizing the Batalha das Limas.

Fuel prices rise in March in the Azores

The prices of gasoline, diesel and butane gas will rise again in March in the Azores, according to a notice published in the Official Gazette

Gasoline goes up by 3.1 cents per litre, diesel by 2.7 cents per litre and butane gas by 0.3 cents per kilo.

The Azorean executive justifies the adjustment in the maximum retail price with the “recent variations in the international market of reference prices for petroleum and energy products”.

In January and February, fuel prices in the Azores had already risen.

The price of butane gas, which had not increased since July 2021, now has monthly updates, with a new calculation formula.

From March 1st, gasoline will cost 1.58 euros per litre in the Azores, 3.1 cents more than in the previous month, while diesel will cost 1.506 euros per litre (2.7 cents more).

The price of coloured diesel for agriculture and fishing, defined in another order, will also increase by 2.7 cents per litre in March.

Coloured and marked diesel used in agriculture will now cost 1.135 euros per litre, while the price of coloured and marked diesel used in fishing will be set at 0.945 euros per litre.

As for butane gas, the increase in March is 0.3 cents per kilo, in the different types.

Butane gas sold to the public, at the retailer’s establishment, in bottles of 26 liters or more, will now cost 1.895 euros per kilo and that sold in bottles of 24 liters, made of light materials (up to eight kilos of containers), 2.091 euros per kilo.

Piped butane gas costs 1.895 euros per kilo and bulk butane gas costs 1.493 euros per kilo.

The maximum prices of petroleum and energy products in the Azores are “changed on the 1st of each month and in amounts equivalent to the variation in the value of the monthly European Price (PE)”.

In December, the Azorean executive increased the Tax on Petroleum and Energy Products (ISP) by 9.8 cents per liter on gasoline and 5.8 cents per liter on diesel.

ISP is now charged at 59 cents per litre for petrol and 40 cents for diesel.

São Miguel hosts Sustainable Tourism Days in the Lands of Priolo

The Local Technical Team of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism of Terras do Priolo will organize on Thursday and Friday, in São Miguel, Azores, the 1st Sustainable Tourism Conference of Terras do Priolo, it was announced.

The conferences “are in line with the objectives and actions of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism of the Priolo Lands 2024-2028 Action Plan”, according to the organization.

The Priolo is a bird species endemic to the Azores and is confined to the eastern part of the island of São Miguel, in the municipalities of Povoação and Nordeste.

The initiative’s program includes a set of guided tours of the territory of the Priolo Lands (municipalities of Nordeste and Povoação) and “will allow businesspeople and tourist guides to discover a different tourist offer in these territories”.

According to the program, on the first day, Thursday, participants in the conferences will take guided tours of the municipality of Nordeste.

On the second day of the proceedings, in the morning, the Forum of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism of Protected Areas (CETS) of Terras do Priolo will be held, which will include the presentation of the CETS Terras do Priolo Action Plan 2024-2028 and the discussion of relevant topics for the development of sustainable tourism in the territory. In the afternoon, guided tours will be held around the municipality of Povoação.