Mayor of Porto wants a real political decentralization in Portugal

Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira in an interview to the Portuguese News Channel RTP2 stated he would like Portugal to have "political regions" rather than "administrative regions". Rui Moreira also spoke about tradition and innovation, about the economic good times the country is experiencing, and about the importance of tourism and exports.

In the wake of another prize awarded to Porto, namely the World Excellence Award for Best Startup-Friendly City of Europe, Mayor Rui Moreira enhanced that Porto has won such an award "because we (the city of Porto) have the best set of policies regarding start-ups".

When questioned on whether it is possible to reconcile tradition and innovation, Rui Moreira noted that "History and Heritage are perfectly compatible with modernity and with the future, even with the tourism footprint", the Mayor added.

"The city of Porto has always been this way, which is why it is called Porto. People have arrived and departed the city since ages. Porto has always worked as a kind of platform for the movement of persons".

"If cities are able to understand their spirit and their soul, they will be able to apprehend their history and their ways; from that point on, one should not fear opening up to cosmopolitanism", Moreira enthused.

On the debate of decentralising the apparel of the state, Rui Moreira enhances that he would like Portugal to have "political regions with political competences".

"The main issue here is to seek that those competences are closer to the populations, and that is why that decentralisation cannot be merely administrative".

To conclude, the Mayor of Porto spotlighted that "the country is experiencing an optimistic political and economic atmosphere", largely the result of a fantastic external environment and the increase of tourism related activities and exports.

"That is why this is the right time to move forward with a real decentralisation", Rui Moreira concluded.