JPP parliamentarian Filipe Sousa has submitted an amendment to the 2027 State Budget proposing an additional €35.4 million for municipalities and parishes in Madeira and the Azores, to offset the added costs of insularity and double insularity.
Of this sum, €11.4 million would go to the Autonomous Region of Madeira, covering councils and parishes on Madeira and Porto Santo. The proposal sets a 10% uplift on transfers for Madeira island and 20% for Porto Santo. The Azores would receive the same principle, with 10% for São Miguel, Terceira and Faial and 20% for the other islands.
According to Sousa, the increase would not raise total budget spending or reduce funds for other Portuguese municipalities, as it would come from reallocating the Finance Ministry's provisional allocation. Payments would be monthly and automatic, without applications. Sousa has called on the PSD and CDS, including MPs elected in Madeira, to support it.