The fusion of these two municipalities is not just a matter of administrative efficiency. It is a strategic necessity that the region has political weight, negotiation and its voice in an increasingly centralized country.
By Francisco Albuquerque *
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In Portugal, it is normal to say that there are too many municipalities, too many parish advice and too many waste in local management. In many cases, administrative boundaries do not reflect the current needs of the territories and end up damaging the population, double the efforts and increase expenses. A good example of the potential that could exist with a more optimized management is the possible fusion of the municipalities of Aveiro and ílhavo.
These two neighboring municipalities, geographical, culturally and economically united, could perfectly become a single municipality with over 120,000 inhabitants, placing Aveiro among the ten largest municipalities in the country. In fact, a county until 1898 has been, today, are practically a single functional and interdependent urban area, which grows in all directions. Fragmentation only delays. However, it would be considerably smaller (in the area) of Coimbra, Leiria or Viseu, which strengthens only how misfit the current municipal map is. The truth is that separated Aveiro and I had so much sense as if the two coimbra banks were distinct municipalities – Coimbra on one side, Santa Clara on the other. The fragmentation no longer serves the urban and social reality of the present.
With the merger, a more competitive territory would emerge, capable of shading with medium -sized cities such as Braga or Coimbra, complaining more strongly than the central government and the European Union. In the short term, administrative and political redundancies would be eliminated. In the medium -term, the structuring projects would be delayed today due to the lack of a shared vision, such as the connection of PCI with pêga Rua or a joint strategy for mobility, housing building, sustainability and urban regeneration. And in the long term, a robust territorial unit was created, with critical mass, corporate capacity and truly integrated planning. This merger is also more and more a matter of voice and regional influence.
Aveiro and ílhavo continue to lose political space and affirmation ability for other more coherent and strategically organized regions. From the North, clear examples are presented: ULS between Douro and Vouga tries to expand at the expense of the ULs of the Aveiro region, centralizing the resources and skills in the city such as Espinho, Santa Maria da Feira or Oliveira de Azeméis. The same line vouga, in its north section, was recently integrated into the passage on foot, for the benefit of the municipalities under the influence of the port, while the rest of the section – which serves Aveiro – remains forgotten.
Southern, the construction of university residences with state financing progress in Coimbra and Viseu, while in Aveiro the delay of the announcements. Until the historic Anadia Wine School, a symbol of regional production identity, was absorbed by the Coimbra Polytechnic. From Viseu, economic groups such as Visabeira arrive, who are substantially owned by the land around the Aveiro municipal stadium … to do nothing. This deliberated paralysis only serves to maintain the region weakened, dependent and without affirmation.
In practical terms, the headquarters of the new municipality would of course be in Aveiro. The current parish of San Salvador could become the parish of ílhavo, also maintaining the parishes of Gafanha from Nazaré and Gafanha from Incarnation-the last by absorbing the diminished Gafanha do Carmo, who, with only 1600 inhabitants, difficult to justify his maintenance as a discreet independent. Also in Aveiro there would be room for greater rationalization: São Jacinto, with about 700 inhabitants, can and should be integrated into the parish of Gloria and Vera Cruz or in the future parish of Gafanha da Nazaré, resulting from the junction with ílhavo.
This is the type of reorganization that should be discussed openly, especially now that the mandatory review of the territory planning report is approaching (reot 2025). The fusion of Aveiro-Lihavo could be a successful pilot case, demonstrating how it is possible to do more with less, without sacrificing the identity or proximity radius by strengthening them with means, scale and vision.
The problem of territorial fragmentation is far from being exclusive to this region. Cases such as São João da Madeira, with only 8 km² and fully jammed between Santa Maria da Feira and Oliveira de Azeméis, or the intersection, removed from Torres Novas, are other examples of municipalities that no longer benefit from this administrative autonomy.
The same applies to other continuous urban areas, such as the Greater Port, in which the creation of a unified municipality would allow to reduce from six to a number of presidents of the Chamber, optimizing the management of transport, homes, waste and urban planning. Closer to Aveiro, examples such as Murtosa’s fusion with Estorreja or the cross of Meashada, Anadia and Oliveira do Bairro in a real municipality of “Bairrada” are options that should enter the public discussion.
More than half of the current population of the two municipalities of Aveiro and Ilhavo has arrived in the last two or three decades: people who do not transport rivalries or sterile neighborhoods, but who require efficient services, better mobility, accessible accommodation and quality of life.
If Portugal wants to be a country with more balanced and sustainable territories, he must begin to have the courage to seriously discuss the reorganizations. Keeping everything as it is is the simplest option – and also the most convenient for those who live on Statu Quotu. But it’s not the best at all. If we want a more modern, right and efficient country, the territorial reorganization must stop being taboo.
* Industrial Gestor.
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