The Mayor of the Oeiras Municipal Council, Isaltino Morais, takes stock of the Oeiras Valley strategy and addresses some of the main projects being carried out by the Municipality.
Oeiras gained its status as a town on 7 June 1759, by royal charter. This day continues to be proudly celebrated by the people of Oeiras. Despite its size and the fact that several of its parishes could be considered cities, the council chose to remain a town, formally combining the seven towns of Algés, Linda-a-Velha, Carnaxide, Queijas, Caxias, Paço de Arcos and Oeiras.
Today, Oeiras is one of the most influential municipalities in Portugal, with some of the highest quality of life indicators in the country, such as the highest national literacy rate and the fact that it has the second highest GDP, after Lisbon.
In an interview with Oeiras Valley, the Mayor of the Oeiras Municipal Council, Isaltino Morais, takes stock of the Oeiras Valley strategy, two years after its creation, explaining the focus of the Municipality’s work and addressing some of the main projects being carried out by the Municipal Council, such as the application for European Capital of Culture in 2027.
President Isaltino Morais, it was right here in May 2019, in the Temple of Poetry, that you launched the Oeiras Valley programme.
Two years later, what have you taken away from this effort by the Oeiras Municipal Council?
The Oeiras Valley concept dates back to the first attempts to develop this territory. At a time when companies were looking for pleasant areas, away from the pollution of the city, Oeiras was able to take advantage of the trend, right at the beginning of the 1990s, with the birth of Taguspark.
Oeiras was a somewhat depressed area, dotted with shanty towns all over the place. Obviously we could not attract companies without first reforming the territory. One could not happen without the other.
Today, the entire Oeiras territory is able to receive companies, universities and scientific research institutions.
We needed to make great efforts and act on several fronts. It wouldn’t do much good to attract businesses if, for example, we didn’t have good schools for the children of whoever came here to work. Naturally, everything evolves and policies have also changed.
Today, the entire Oeiras territory is able to receive companies, universities and scientific research institutions. New companies and new workers have different requirements. A 25- or 30-year-old who is well-placed in a technology company has a different mindset than they did 25 or 30 years ago. They are more demanding in terms of culture and sport, for example.
All this would lead to the Oeiras Valley concept. This is what Oeiras Valley is all about.
A company, a research institute, a university that wants to set up in Portugal, in a prestigious location, with all the requirements, with access to information technologies, with all the services that need to be provided to people, companies and the community – you will find all this in Oeiras.
Companies and institutions in the municipality quickly adopted the Oeiras Valley brand.
Has the first major mission of this programme been accomplished?
In the past, people who lived in Oeiras would say: “I live in Lisbon”, because they thought that Oeiras was not well-known enough. Of course any mayor will try to encourage their fellow citizens to be proud of their town, so we tried to find identity markers.
The first slogan, created by the Oeiras Youth Cabinet, the first Municipal Youth Cabinet in the country, was: “It’s good to be young in Oeiras.” From “It’s good to be young in Oeiras” we moved on to “It’s good to live in Oeiras”. The idea was to bring identity to the people of the territory.
Oeiras, in the metropolitan context of the country, was a kind of driving force.
Then we had another slogan and changed it to “Oeiras sets the pace”, meaning that Oeiras, in the metropolitan context of the country, was a kind of driving force.
People identified with the message because Oeiras began to have several social policies and there were a number of factors that contributed to the Oeiras Council’s good image and, therefore, “Oeiras sets the pace”. Has this slogan been appropriated by people? Yes, it has. And the previous ones? Yes, they were too.
Has Oeiras Valley brought anything new?
All these slogans that the Municipalities have are usually for the people who live there. The difference between the Oeiras Valley brand and all the others is that it has also been assimilated and incorporated by the economic fabric of the Council.
We can go to any company in this municipality to attend a presentation and we will see Oeiras Valley. All companies know what the idea of Oeiras Valley represents and all the companies identify with it. I have no doubt that we have achieved our goals, both from a national and international standpoint.
We have now launched housing policies that are as challenging and surprising as those we launched in the 1980s
What does it mean to the Council that Oeiras Valley continues to grow?
We could not talk about Oeiras Valley without talking about the institutions, the companies and the citizens, because what the Council seeks is to create conditions to serve everyone.
We have now launched housing policies that are as challenging and surprising as those we launched in the 1980s, and yet we have to fight very tenaciously to get central government to make the land, which is needed for building housing, available.
We need to generate wealth and distribute it fairly.
At the moment, we are at the mercy of extremisms that are appearing all over the place, on the left and on the right. These ideological dimensions end up having implications on the idea that one has about the territory, about the generation of wealth, about the creation of companies. We must fight against extremism, because wealth generation is fundamental and it is companies, entrepreneurs and workers who create this wealth. On the other hand, social policies must be developed. We need to generate wealth and distribute it fairly.
Today, Oeiras has a unique social cohesion situation at a national level and the highest average salary in the country. This does not mean that there are not vulnerable people or people with difficulties, but it does mean that the Oeiras Municipal Council was able to allocate 12 million euros, during this year, to fight the effects of the pandemic and, in particular, social inequalities, so that the poorest and most vulnerable people would not suffer more for being in this situation.
As of October, there will be no young person finishing year 12 who wants to go to university and has no money to do so. The Council will pay.
The municipality helped them all. But why? Because these policies, which are embodied today in Oeiras Valley, generate wealth. That is what we want to see in the coming years.
It is fundamental that it is understood that it is the potential that Oeiras has to reap the best from the business world, the universities, the scientific research institutions, that enables the Council to generate wealth and distribute it, through social policies such as those we are implementing in education, for example.
The policies we are introducing in the territory will transform Oeiras into an urban ecosystem like no other in our country, and that is what Oeiras Valley represents.
As of October, there will be no young person from this municipality who finishes year 12, wants to go to university and cannot afford the fees. The Council will pay.
If at this moment we are already the most literate municipality in the country, with the most graduates, PhDs and researchers, imagine what our educational policies will be in five or six years’ time.
The policies we are introducing in the territory will transform Oeiras into an urban ecosystem like no other in our country, and that is what Oeiras Valley represents.
Oeiras presented its candidacy for the European Capital of Culture in 2027, combining Heritage, Art and Culture with Innovation, Science and Technology.
What changes can be expected in the municipality with this application?
Everything is connected. If it were not for Oeiras Valley, there might be no application for the European Capital of Culture. If our application is appearing at this time, it is because it is the right moment for the Municipality.
There were some conditions that I considered fundamental to presenting an application, partly related to the National Agronomic Station and the Cartuxa Monastery. Three or four years ago, when the idea of potentially applying for the European Capital of Culture began to germinate, I made it conditional on the transfer of this heritage to the Municipality.
Alongside what we have and what we want to do, there is a set of new facilities that will transform this territory.
Oeiras has beautiful heritage: The Marquês Palace and Quinta de Cima, the Gunpowder Factory in Barcarena, the Castro de Seia, the largest line of maritime fortifications in the world. But nowadays, building an application is not just about that. It is the cultural heritage, the people, the diversity of cultures that form a culture.
There was a time when cultures were divided. Today cultures are closer together and it is essential that in an application for the European Capital of Culture there is activity, dynamics, cultural action, and that people are involved and participating. Alongside what we have and what we want to do, there is a set of new facilities that will transform this territory.
Can you highlight some of the facilities?
Several squares, which will be interconnected, are under construction in different parts of the municipality.
As Oeiras is a technological Council, we understood that we wanted to be the maximum exponent of the availability of technological tools in terms of information. In these squares we will have large LED screens and it will be possible to simultaneously broadcast live shows that are taking place in the auditoriums of Oeiras.
The whole of Oeiras is being transformed to create more urban comfort.
In Linda-a-Velha, we are developing a project for what will be one of the best auditoriums in the country, with capacity for around 1300 people.
The work on the fair and exhibition centre, which will have a room with capacity for 1,500 people, is also at a very advanced stage. The fair and exhibition area will have capacity for 7000 people.
The whole of Oeiras is being transformed to create more urban comfort.
We want to create a more cohesive, stronger and more unique community.
Everything that is not related to cultural programming will be carried out, whether or not Oeiras becomes European Capital of Culture, and this is one of the advantages we have over other Municipalities.
In addition, we are the ones who have the best conditions to ensure cultural programming and the programming of new facilities without having to depend on the State.
The idea is that by 2027, the European Capital of Culture will be a pretext for bringing people together. We want to create a more cohesive, stronger and more unique community.
We are still living through a pandemic, which was a great challenge in the management of the Municipality.
How can you develop such an ambitious strategy at the same time as having to manage a pandemic?
I recognise that most Municipalities do not have the conditions to provide the support and aid that the Municipality of Oeiras is providing.
The Municipal Council, during the pandemic, bought and distributed personal protective equipment to the entire population, and it continues to do so, but it also donated medical equipment to hospitals, including ventilators, syringes, etc.
We serve over 500,000 meals. Quarantine hotels are available. The vaccination centre set up by the municipality was one of the first in Portugal. Now we are distributing 3 million euros to entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized businesses who have suffered a lot during the pandemic.
We must be prepared for emergencies. They can happen.
It was a very difficult year. This is a really unique situation in our lives, but I think we reacted well.
Our prior preparation helped. We already had the means and social policies to support families. We have a social emergency fund, which was around 250 thousand euros per year. Up until 2019 it was never fully utilised. With the pandemic, we immediately increased the fund to 3 million. We must be prepared for emergencies. They can happen.
However, we have extraordinary experiences, such as the vaccination centre, where there is a group of young volunteers, nurses and doctors who are extraordinarily generous. Everyone who goes there leaves amazed, because they arrive and are treated well, cared for, supported… people feel they are the centre of attention. The pandemic is a dramatic experience and many lives were lost, but at the same time it is an extraordinary human experience.
How would you like to see Oeiras in ten years’ time?
The next six years are going to be very important.
Today, to start a construction project we must have a project and the preparation of the project almost takes longer than the construction work. Now, for example, there is a lot of talk about the bazooka, but the bazooka is of no use if there are no projects. You have to have projects in your portfolio and I have always worked like this ever since I was first elected.
There was a certain stagnation in the last term and we have had to speed up a lot. Now we are starting to have a lot of projects available, which means that the next term will be very good. Many works have been awarded and will start this year or early next year: equipment, schools, crèches, retirement homes…
What I expect to see is a more socially homogeneous Oeiras, with fewer inequalities, which is more territorially cohesive and harmonious.
We have launched a housing programme that is exactly ten years old. If, at the end of the 1990s, we put an end to the shanty towns, an initiative that was revolutionary in the municipality, in this programme we are going to solve the problem of families that are still living in very difficult situations, the problem of the middle class and the problem of young people, who are in desperate need of housing.
What I expect to see is a more socially homogeneous Oeiras, with fewer inequalities, which is more territorially cohesive and harmonious. Naturally, I also hope that by then the transport problem will have been solved, because it is the Achilles heel of the Lisbon metropolitan area.
I am hopeful that, once the pandemic is over, a willingness to move forward will emerge.
Alongside all the transformations that the territory, people and companies are undergoing, we must monitor the social implications of these transformations, not least because, in the context of the pandemic, we still do not know what the real consequences of this pandemic will be.
I am hopeful that, once the pandemic is over, a willingness to move forward will emerge. We know that many establishments closed, but many others opened, and those that opened here in Oeiras, in the area of restaurants, neighbourhood grocery stores, for example, are of even better quality. The next ten years can only be good.
