The Question of Autonomy in Madeira: Elements for a Critical Reflexion

Abstract

In this article we seek to contribute to a larger historical problematization of the question of autonomy in Madeira, providing elements for a more in-depth reflexion on the subject. Our scope is to identify the main guidelines in the history of the autonomist protest, namely the demand for financial autonomy, a sine qua non condition for an effective administrative and political autonomy, as well as the feeling that the archipelago was voted to abandonment by the central goverment. A central goverment which, in the opinion of the regional elites, would only be interested in collecting the tax revenues coming from Madeira, and not in investing enough in the socio-economic development of the island. Additionally, our approach will demonstrate the absence of linearity in the history of the Madeiran autonomist protest. In fact, this protest has experienced moments of greater intensity, but also others of stagnation and even silence, according to the national political context, the political regimes and the regional political and economic circumstances. We can thus see advances and setbacks in the history of the autonomist protest, as in the case of many other historical processes. As such, we seek to give an overview of the historical question of autonomy in Madeira, adopting a “long-term” perspective and considering a prolonged chronological period prior to 1976.

Keywords

Madeira; Autonomy; Regionalism; Portuguese Political History; 1976 Constitution.