Delegation of Brazilian mayors received at the Town Hall

A delegation of the National Front of Mayors (FNP) of Brazil was received this Friday by the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, in the Town Hall. An opportunity to exchange experiences and strengthen union ties between Brazilian municipalities and Porto.

The mayor of Porto, who was accompanied by the councillor of Health and Quality of Life, Catarina Araújo, and the councillor of Tourism and Internationalization, Catarina Santos Cunha, recalled the ties that unite the two countries, from the time of D. Pedro IV (I of Brazil) – whose monarch's path was recently exposed in the Town Hall, as well as his heart, deposited in the Church of Lapa – to the present, focusing on the political decentralization that is taking place in both countries.

"We share a hero (D. Pedro). The Grito do Ipiranga and the Cerco do Porto are two moments that exalt this relationship", stressed the mayor of Porto, also pronouncing on the current situation, in a way of warning to his Brazilian counterparts: "When the State passes powers to the municipalities, it usually forgets to write the check. So first negotiate the check or else they forget”.

Decentralization on the outside is always a very beautiful watermelon. But when it is opened, it depends…” added Rui Moreira.

Representing the FNP, the mayor of Ribeirão Preto, the headquarters municipality of the Metropolitan Region of Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, stressed that the current political moment in Brazil "is a great challenge". “Our municipalities also work for decentralization [of tax reform] and a compatible revenue for our tasks”, said Duarte Nogueira.

Founded in 1989, the FNP is the only Brazilian municipal entity run exclusively by mayors in office of their mandates. It brings together all the capitals and municipalities with more than 80 thousand inhabitants. With an increasing trend, there are 415 medium and large cities, where 61% of Brazilians live and 74% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - 2021 data - is produced.

After the reception in the Town Hall, the delegation went on a visit to the Porto Innovation Hub and the Centro de Gestão Integrada (CGI), ending with a lunch at Casa do Roseiral.