The Portuguese countryside cannot continue to be treated as a secondary or neglected region. Despite their enormous historical, cultural, economic and environmental importance, these areas have often been characterised by depopulation, a lack of investment and unequal access to essential services.
To speak of the interior is to speak of thousands of Portuguese people who continue to live, work and persevere in areas that are so often overlooked by political and administrative decisions. It is to speak of families facing increased difficulties in accessing healthcare, public transport, schools, government services and even decent digital connectivity. It means talking about young people who are often forced to leave their homeland, not because they do not want to stay, but because they lack the conditions to build a future there.
To discriminate against the interior is to widen the gaps between Portuguese people. I consider this a completely unjust, dangerous and deeply damaging reality for national cohesion. A country cannot aspire to true development if it continues to concentrate resources, investment and attention solely on the coast and major urban areas, leaving behind vast regions that have the potential, wealth and capacity to contribute to our collective future.
In my daily life, I continue to witness clear instances of discrimination. This discrimination manifests itself in various ways: in the difficulty of accessing public services, in the delay of administrative responses, in the lack of transport, in the decline of essential facilities, and also in the way that much EU support and funding does not always reach people fairly and effectively. There is a series of increasingly frequent inequalities that are opening an ever-deeper wound in Portuguese society.
In the interior of the country, there are many closed schools that bear witness to the gradual abandonment of various communities. Some of these former schools have been repurposed and put to other uses, demonstrating that it is possible to breathe new life into these spaces. However, many remain unused, consigned to oblivion and deteriorating day by day. This situation represents not only the loss of public heritage, but also reflects depopulation and the lack of a strategy to revitalise the interior. Instead of being left to fall into disrepair, these facilities could be restored and transformed into spaces for social, cultural, community or even business activities, helping to restore vitality to the localities where they are located.
Portugal needs to stop viewing the interior as a periphery and start recognising it as a priority. This requires more than just occasional speeches. It requires real investment, effective decentralisation, incentives to encourage businesses and families to settle there, a strengthening of public services, better use of European funds, and a regional development policy that does not treat everyone the same when the initial inequalities are so great. Treating people fairly often means investing more where there is greater vulnerability.
The interior of Portugal must not be discriminated against. Not for economic reasons, not for geographical reasons, not for political convenience. A truly developed country is measured by the way it treats all its territories and all its citizens. The problem is not merely economic; it is also social, human and democratic.