Immigration. Chambers ask the Government for help: schools, homes and even garbage are at their limit

Local authorities in several regions warn of situations of rupture and ask the Government for reinforcement to avoid tensions.

Os immigrants They are no longer just in the main cities of Portugal. They also began to focus on interior, in more agricultural, industrial and rural areas.

Municipalities with less spaceand usually with fewer inhabitants, are now having a unusual pressure at a demographic level – which affects the services main audiences.

Housing, education, health center or even garbage collection. Everything is under greater pressure recently.

Therefore, several Municipal Chambers are asking the Government to “strengthen of municipal financing mechanisms” and the creation of “differentiated public policies depending on territorial profiles”, cites the .

Basically, they want financial and human reinforcement for avoid social tensions and degradation of services.

A municipality that stands out: Odemira. The most recent data indicates that 68% of local inhabitants are foreigners. AND missing houses – and, therefore, it is more difficult to hire technicians who live in other areas of the country.

Ferreira do Alentejo This is another critical situation: the demand for accommodation far exceeds the supply and there are periods of overcrowding, in an area where the immigrant population is more seasonal (agricultural work). The local city hall warns that there is no possibility of temporary solutions on agricultural properties. And, also in Ferreira do Alentejo, the overload of municipal services led to a lack of response capacity in garbage collection – it was necessary to hire external services.

Or even the case of Vila Nova de Poiares: 10% of the inhabitants are immigrants and, in schools, there are students of 17 nationalities; the language It is a barrier, individual monitoring is often necessary.

Regarding the most sensitive issue, crime: the municipalities in question no more crimes are recorded because of increased immigration. There are some specific cases of discomfort due to cultural differences; no more than that.