Regionalization in Portugal, yes or no? (with video)
Division of Portugal into regions, yes or no, is a special report this week by Record TV Europethat we publish here.
Portugal is one of the few countries in the European Union that did not advance towards regionalization, although it is inscribed in the National Constitution.
The 1998 referendum was rejected by the Portuguese and since then the process has been based on intentions, recalls the piece by the Record TV Europe.
At least 93% of the Portuguese State’s central administration bodies are concentrated in just 3% of the national territory. Of the 698 state institutions, only 48 are centralized across the country, with the remaining 650 based in the capital.
Lisbon is the richest region in Portugal, with a GDP per capita close to 25 thousand euros, almost 30% above the national average and close to the richest countries in the European Union. Even so, between 2000 and 2010, only two regions of the country converged with the EU average: the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, as the only two with administrative autonomy.
The North and Center of the country are two regions of mainland Portugal with a GDP per capita close to the poor countries of Eastern and Southern Europe.
Portugal is one of the most centralized in the OECD, sixth in a table of 35, and at the same time it is among the least developed.
The Record TV Europa article does not refer specifically to the most obvious region of the Algarve, which is the most evident region and naturally defined by its geographic and specific location that its geography completely imposed. But in the video the proper reference is made – see the video.