The secretary general of Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) says that the regional secretary for Economy, Tourism and Culture made a “reductive, convenient and selective reading” of the Residents’ Survey on Tourism in the Region, which is the responsibility of the Regional Statistics Directorate of Madeira (DREM).
Élvio Sousa describes the work of DREM as “pertinent” in understanding the impacts on the daily lives of Madeirans and Porto Santo residents of the invasion of mass tourism in the Region, but considers that the survey fails to clarify, “or deliberately did not want to clarify”, fundamental issues such as the impact on the cost of living for Madeirans, the severe restrictions on residents renting and buying housing due to the transfer of available houses on the market to local accommodation, but also in terms of mobility, dropping off and picking up children from school, and commuting to work, situations that have clearly changed, requiring more time spent on the roads, as a result of the exponential increase in vehicles circulating daily in the Region.
“It seems that the study was commissioned by the Secretary of Economy and Tourism so that he could support a speech in line with what he has already been publicly stating,” reacts Élvio Sousa. “More than 92% of those surveyed think that the current flow of tourism is very high or high, but the Regional Secretary says nothing about this, taking refuge in the 6.3% of people who say they feel uncomfortable, but as far as we know, the people of Madeira, in 200 years of tourism tradition, have always been known for their hospitality and coexistence with outsiders, that is not the problem.”
For the JPP leader, the problem lies “in the issues that really have an impact on the lives of Madeirans, and these are not part of this study, which is a shame, as it presupposes a lack of political courage to face the problem and make decisions in a timely manner”.
In his opinion, saying that “92% of residents did not need to change their lifestyle” is almost “surreal”, and he explains: “Of course it does have an impact, I have already given examples of issues that have a direct impact on the lives of Madeirans, such as the extremely high cost of living, the difficulty in renting a house, the endless traffic jams, they think this is not enough. What is the solution? They want Madeirans to leave the island, stop working, not be able to go to the supermarket and have a normal life”.
Élvio Sousa reinforces tourism as the “main support of the regional economy”, but says it is necessary to “create balance” and “take care of the lives of families, of people, govern for residents and not just for tourism records, impoverishing Madeirans and taking away their quality of life, which is already not great”.
The leader of the JPP states that the invasion of mass tourism “is today a concern for local, regional and national communities” that the Regional Government cannot ignore. He recalls experts who refer to tourism as a form of consumption that “inevitably contains some voracious aspects, of depredation of local resources” and therefore recommend that “the only way to avoid being destructive is to impose quantitative limits, because it is impossible for healthy urban life not to be disturbed”.