Former Minister of Culture from the Socialist Party (PS), Pedro Adão e Silva, acknowledged understanding the statements made by the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, regarding the number of helicopters assisting in firefighting efforts, describing it as irrelevant.
However, he noted on CNN that “it was not the most fortunate statement,” while agreeing with the minister that the number of helicopters “is not the most relevant today to understand what is repeatedly happening in Portugal.”
The former official asserted that the Internal Administration portfolio benefits from ministers with a more political character, regardless of the ruling party, and that Maria Lúcia Amaral does not fit that profile. He still emphasized the importance of “focusing on fighting fires” and stated that the remarks did not seem to undermine this objective.
“Each time we concentrate on this aspect, we are diverting attention from the real problem,” added the ex-minister.
Adão e Silva further highlighted that the issues in question, related to fires in Portugal, are systematic, stating, “if we were sitting here in September, we would be saying the same things,” and the same would be true “if we go back two or three years.”
The structure of properties, “the way the country occupied the territory, the major rural-to-urban migration, with the abandonment of lands,” and even some “political tension” between firefighters and municipalities are some of the structural problems identified by the minister.
What the Minister of Internal Administration Said
Speaking to journalists regarding the number of helicopters available, Maria Lúcia Amaral stated that “it doesn’t help to know how many aerial resources we have,” noting that the “numbers are irrelevant.”
The minister underscored that, given the fires most concerning to the authorities, “the existence of 72, 76, or 80 aerial resources” would be irrelevant, “because what causes difficulty for operatives is the extremely accidental nature of the topography, the difficulty of access.”
Regarding what may have failed, leading to the severity of these fires, the minister commented: “Failures occur, and we hoped nothing would happen in our country.”
Maria Lúcia Amaral, the Minister of Internal Administration, stated that the number of aerial resources is “irrelevant,” as “the difficulty for operatives lies in access difficulty” in the field. Meanwhile, the national commander of Civil Protection highlighted that these aerial resources, “complementing terrestrial resources, are key to successful firefighting.”
Notícias ao Minuto with Lusa | 22:53 – 29/07/2025
