“It’s something that really shouldn’t happen. I understand that from a financial and economic standpoint, it’s not profitable, but there are issues where it’s necessary to ensure territorial solidarity and access to information, which is also a guarantor and a pillar of democracy, and therefore the Portuguese state has an obligation to make necessary compensations so that this distribution continues,” stated the mayor, Isabel Ferreira.
Vasp’s administration announced today that it is evaluating the need to make adjustments in the daily distribution of newspapers in the districts of Beja, Évora, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, Guarda, Viseu, Vila Real, and Bragança.
In a statement, Vasp notes that it is currently undergoing a particularly demanding financial situation, resulting from the continued decline in press sales and the significant increase in operational costs, which strongly pressure the sustainability of the current coverage of daily press distribution.
This scenario directly impacts the viability of daily press distribution at points of sale, especially in the country’s interior regions, forcing the company to reassess its operational and logistical model, as Vasp – Distribution and Logistics points out, on the day Correio da Manhã reports that “eight districts are at risk of lacking newspapers from January.”
According to the president of the municipality of Bragança, “even if there’s only one person in a certain territory, that person has the right to have access to this information.”
Therefore, she believes that the state’s role is to ensure there is “equity,” with “special measures,” subsidizing territories like the Interior.
“If the criterion is population density to validate investment viability, we will always be losers because it’s a catch-22. We can’t use that type of criterion; on the contrary, we must invest in the interior so that these investments promote other subsequent investments,” she argued.
In 2024, Vasp had already announced it might cease distribution in several municipalities of the country, particularly in Vimioso and Freixo de Espada à Cinta, in the Bragança district.
However, in October last year, the government made an agreement with Vasp and announced it would launch a public tender to ensure newspaper distribution. By February this year, the tender was still being finalized.
The issue persists, and although Isabel Ferreira considers that the municipality of Bragança is not affected, she expressed solidarity with the other municipalities in the district.
