Portugal, the country of illusionists

In Portugal, we live in a permanent spectacle of political illusionism. The protagonists don't wear top hats or play cards, but they master like no one else the art of making us believe something is happening... when, in fact, everything remains exactly the same.

With each election cycle, the rhetoric is renewed: there's talk of structural reforms, cutting government fat, investing in healthcare, justice for teachers, dignity at work, and coherent immigration policies. We hear big words: "change," "vision," "transformation." But once the promises are over, when the curtain rises and the spotlight fades, reality sets in again—heavy, repetitive, and devoid of magic. They promise us action, but deliver us delays.

Take the case of fires. Every summer, Portugal burns. The forgotten interior burns, the unorganized forests burn, the lives of those who insist on resisting in the countryside burn. Reports follow, and so do the minutes of silence, but year after year, little changes. Planes arrive late, firefighters remain underpaid, and the forest remains abandoned. An illusion of action, a reality of inertia.

In healthcare, the challenge is great, but so is the opportunity for change. There's talk of strengthening the NHS, hiring professionals, and improving access to emergency services. But in practice, many patients continue to face long waits for appointments and treatments, and emergency services struggle to provide a full response due to a shortage of human resources. It's essential to invest strategically in valuing healthcare teams, creating better working conditions, and attracting talent with stable and motivating policies. The potential of our system is immense—what's needed now is to transform these intentions into concrete and sustainable measures.

But it's crucial to go beyond current management: a profound reform of the healthcare system is urgent. The National Health Service was designed for a population and epidemiological reality that no longer exists. Today, we have an aging population, more prevalent chronic diseases, and medical technology that has evolved immensely. There's no point in continuing to invest in an outdated model: we need to innovate, modernize services, and use technology intelligently, preventively, and in an integrated manner.

Education demands a similar urgency. We are educating 21st-century students with 19th-century methods. Curricula are out of touch with today's reality, and we continue to teach as our grandparents did. Schools need to be rethought from the ground up: more interdisciplinary, more practical, and closer to the skills the world demands—critical thinking, digital literacy, creativity, empathy. Structural reforms are inevitable if we want to prepare young people to face real challenges.

And what about immigration? On one hand, we hear calls for integration and the appreciation of diversity. On the other, we witness complete administrative disorganization, a lack of serious and structured policies to welcome new arrivals, and the degradation of basic living conditions for thousands of people. Once again: beautiful speeches, but without practical consequences.

Behind this collective illusion lies a deeper problem: Portugal lives without focus, without structuring objectives, without a true vision for the future. Millions are spent—on European funds, programs, initiatives—but almost always without a coherent plan, without clear goals, without knowing where we want to be in 10, 20, or 30 years. We lack a national project. We lack ambition. Decisions are made based on political expediency, without continuity, without strategy.

It is urgent to adapt laws and the State to current needs and realities. We are tied to a Constitution and a legislative system shaped for the challenges of the last century. Today, we live in an era of digital transformation, artificial intelligence, global mobility, and urgent climate challenges. Digitalization could and should be a lever for the State to be more efficient, more transparent, and closer to the people. But it continues to be seen as a fad, not a structural priority.

How is it possible that we don't truly take advantage of our exclusive economic zone—one of the largest in Europe? How is it possible that we remain inward-looking, as if the Atlantic weren't at our doorstep? Historically, Portugal only became relevant when it turned to the sea. Our strength was never size, but the boldness to look outward. Today, we are a peripheral country that insists on thinking small. We still use the Iberian gauge on our railways, while the rest of Europe advances with interoperability. It's symbolic: we insist on being an exception, when we should strive to be a connecting link.

Our politicians are quick to say that "outside the world we're the best," that we're an "example of democracy," "champions of diplomacy." But one only needs to look honestly to realize that we're just like many others, and sometimes even less effective. What happens abroad is that the environment is more conducive to evolution: updated laws, swift decisions, agile states. It's not that we're worse; we've simply created a system where everything takes too long, where no one takes risks, where everyone talks and no one acts.

This is the big problem: our leaders thrive on theatrics. They claim to defend one thing and then the opposite, without shame or consequences. They present themselves as reformists, but act like bureaucrats of procrastination. Portugal desperately needs political courage—to break with cycles of improvisation, to invest in the long term, to confront entrenched interests, to choose between what is popular and what is necessary.

Inaction is not neutral. It has costs. Costs in lives, in lost opportunities, in talent that emigrates, in regions that slowly die. This paralysis is silently pushing us toward irrelevance. As a country, we are losing weight, influence, and self-esteem. We have become experts at promising and failing.

As long as the illusionists remain on stage, with their practiced speeches and their art of disguising inaction, Portugal will remain hostage to a future that never arrives. And the most tragic thing of all? Having seen the trick repeated so often, we've almost stopped believing that politics can be different.