The independent councilors on the Funchal City Council (CMF), Luís Filipe Santos and Jorge Afonso Freitas, issued an extensive statement expressing deep concerns regarding the autonomy of the Funchal municipality. In the document, the two councilors consider "concerning the growing intervention of the Regional Government in the urban planning decisions" of the Funchal City Council.
For the independent councilors, this situation represents "a progressive loss of autonomy of the Funchal City Council in the area of urban planning and land management." This statement reflects the dissatisfaction of the two elected officials with what they perceive as a transfer of competencies and decision-making power to the regional executive.
The statement comes in a context of tension between local and regional power in Madeira, where issues related to urban planning and land management have been points of discord between the two levels of governance. The independent councilors defend that the City Council should maintain its autonomy in these matters, without external interferences that diminish its decision-making capacity over the territory under its jurisdiction.
