The Government is to approve a package of measures to encourage civil servants to live and work in the sparsely populated interior of the country.
Higher salaries and more holiday time are among the range of tempting goodies to fill vacancies, “within the framework of territorial cohesion strategy,” said the Deputy Economy Minister, Pedro Siza Vieira.
The politician was addressing MPs at an environment and planning committee hearing at which he made a diagnosis of what the Government has been doing to re-energise the inland areas of the country.
Pedro Siza Vieira stressed that the public sector development programme for the interior already has created "about two thousand jobs" supported by financial resources, and that under discussion is, "a simplified one-stop registration system that will, once approved , create 1,435 jobs immediately."
Other areas the government claims to be working on include attracting €1.7 billion of private business investment.
Also, tourism development in these territories has had support of about €350 million under the Valorizar programme.
The minister acknowledged that the problems of desertification occur not only in mainland Portugal but also either side of the border with Spain.
"In the border regions between Portugal and Spain there is more aging, which need particular attention by the two countries," he said, adding that there is a joint proposal already being discussed with the European Union.
Among additional measures to stop people drifting away from these rural areas, Pedro Siza Vieira pointed to the reduction of toll rates, support for forestry, infrastructure and job creation.
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Picture courtesy of Frank McClintock
