Security is a political priority for the Algarve, a region that has very specific characteristics in this matter. Corresponding to a large floating population is a very specific form of land use, highly concentrated along the coast, very dispersed housing in the low-density areas and very lively night life. It is a region where people are welcomed. And this has its good side and its bad side. We have always lived with this and always come out of it well.

But we must be attentive to new signs. There is some distance to travel between the mathematics of the figures and the feelings of people. There are fewer crimes, but there is greater public exposure of their violence.

Nowadays there is a kind of criminality that is more organised and more markedly violent. That attacks isolated properties with people inside. Foreigners, mostly. And this creates a sense of insecurity and great discomfort.

The government has responded. It has reinforced human resources. In two years there has been an increase of more than 234 officers serving in the Algarve. This is important. There is more training of officers on the ground. The fleet of vehicles has improved. But it was necessary to go beyond that, to respond in a new way. And this is being done.

A new type of criminality necessitates a new model of intervention, giving priority to the joint action of the police forces and the use of new technology. The response is the creation of mixed teams.

In order to concentrate information about every instance of violent crime, and acting at the levels of both prevention and investigation. Furthermore, the system of vigilance will be strengthened with more technological resources, in particular those for the automatic reading of number plates. So that suspicious movements can rapidly be identified. Better organisation, greater effectiveness.

Meanwhile another essential programme is underway, the georeferenced mapping of dispersed housing which will facilitate speedier access to all locations using a GPS. More information, greater knowledge.

Much has been done to create greater inter-police coordination, through the District Security Coordination Office at the Civil Government. Now it is a question of taking more concerted action.

There is a new awakening to the phenomena of security. New demands and new responses. Let us be able to construct a culture of security in everything that we do.

The government has given a clear signal, recognising the necessity of an integrated response in the fields of combating illegal immigration and human trafficking, of crime prevention and investigation, of civil defence. This is a signal that is more than opportune, it is highly felicitous.

So that the Algarve may always be a safe destination and a place where those who want to live here are given a warm welcome. What is needed is confidence.