The president of the Municipal Chamber of Bragança, Isabel Ferreira, took advantage of the Council of Ministers meeting held in the city on September 9 to present to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government several priority claims for the Trás-os-Montes territory. The mayor argued that the valorization of the Interior must be a state policy and warned about the impact of delays in the completion of investments, stating that "the gap between deciding and executing weighs much more here in the Interior."
Among the priorities mentioned are the transformation of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança into a University, the expansion of the Brigantia EcoPark, and the possibility of Bragança hosting one of the new Large Business Areas planned for the North. Isabel Ferreira also advocated for the Bragança-Puebla de Sanabria connection, as well as the advancement of the railway line to Spain and to Europe, considering that the border is an economic and strategic asset that is still underutilized.
The Parada Dam, the rehabilitation of schools, and the revision of the Local Finance Law were other topics addressed at the meeting. The president argued that municipal funding should take into account not only the population, but also the territorial dispersion and the hundreds of villages in the municipality.
At the end, Isabel Ferreira made a direct appeal to the Government, stating that Bragança is doing its part, but that there are infrastructures and decisions that depend on the State. The mayor also raised a broader question: what place should the Interior occupy in the future of Portugal.
