The sea’s priority

Abstract

In Portugal, the sea was, is and will always be a central issue. Additionally, it is also an issue of great urgency due to the exhaustion of the resources of the whole earth, which now causes a new headlong rush to the oceans, where we have scrolls to settle and defend, as a maritime country, even archipelagic. Thus, this paper deals with three key aspects: the importance of the sea in past time Portugal; the utility of the sea in Portugal today; the opportunity of the sea in the future Portugal. Never the less, and despite the extension of the continental coast, we shall remember that the Portuguese sea today is mainly the sea around the Portuguese islands, especially the sea of the Azores, because it allows the extension of jurisdiction and an increasing hope.