With the proposal for a referendum on immigration on the table, Chega insisted this Monday and Tuesday on the need to create quotas for immigrants during the Parliamentary Conferences in Castelo Branco. This idea was widely opposed by the secretary-general of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), Luís Mira, and the president of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP), Francisco Calheiros, two of the speakers on the panels on the Portuguese economy and the rural world, who warned of the lack of labor in both sectors and the losses to the economy.
The Portuguese Farmers' Confederation (CAP) advocates the creation of a plan to attract immigrants, together with a housing pact, which mobilizes vacant buildings, otherwise Portugal could have a situation of "shortage" of workers.
“The lack of a program to attract immigrants could lead to a shortage of professionals in the future, which would be dramatic for the companies that need them,” said CAP president Álvaro Mendonça e Moura.
The president of the Portuguese Tourism Confederation highlighted this Monday the need for foreign labor and considered that, even if immigrants were replaced by beneficiaries of the Social Integration Income (RSI), “it would not be enough”.
Francisco Calheiros was one of the speakers at Chega's parliamentary sessions, which run until Tuesday in Castelo Branco, on a panel on the theme “Boosting the Portuguese economy”.
“The lack of labor is a reality. It has been overcome by immigration, and I think there is no other way to do it,” he argued.
The president of the Portuguese Tourism Confederation considered it necessary to “create conditions for them to come, so that there are no endless queues for services, so that they have housing, employment contracts and so that they can have all the conditions to be integrated, as the Portuguese want them to be”.
In the same panel, Chega deputy Filipe Melo did not subscribe to this position.
“We don’t need immigrants to end the labor shortage, what we need is to end the RSI, to put those who are receiving [this subsidy] to work, and thus not need immigrants”, he stated, arguing that “this is the prerequisite for the economy to function”.
In a second intervention, the president of the Portuguese Tourism Confederation refuted: “we can put all the people who receive the RSI [in the jobs now occupied by immigrants], but it is not enough”.
Francisco Calheiros also spoke at the airport, considering that “it is the biggest constraint” for tourism, and defended the location of Montijo.
“I’m not discussing Alcochete, whatever. My question is, what do we do from now until then?” he said.
Regarding TAP, the director stated that the airline “is decisive” and defended the maintenance of the 'hub' in the privatization.
Francisco Calheiros also considered that there is no such thing as “too much tourism”, but rather “too little economy” and “too little and wrong management of tourism in the territory”.
Pointing out that “tourism will be the industry that will grow the most”, he maintained that the country must take advantage of this wave.
The Chega deputy argued that “the State must always have control over TAP” and agreed on the importance of the Lisbon hub.
“We cannot expect Lufthansa to keep one of the country's biggest assets. It is essential that we maintain the Lisbon hub,” he said, also warning that routes connecting the diaspora, jobs and purchases within the country must continue to be maintained.
Regarding the airport, Filipe Melo said he was convinced that “it will not be in Alcochete, for sure” and that the choice of this location was “a diversionary tactic” by the Government to “try to buy the PS’s abstention in the State Budget”.
“Miguel Pinto Luz knows that Alcochete is not viable”, he argued, accusing the Minister of Infrastructure of lying to the Portuguese people.