The Regional Director for Communities restated the Government's priority to closely work with all Houses of the Azores in favour of "Azoreanity" and the promotion of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in the world.

Speaking at the session to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the House of the Azores of Algarve that took place in Faro last Saturday, Paulo Teves praised the work carried out by this institution among the Azorean community residing in Southern Portugal in the last two decades as well as its role as a "important means in disseminating the values and the preservation of Azorean identity in a place outside the archipelago."

The Regional Director for Communities also highlighted the importance of the House of the Azores of Algarve in the context of "the common project for preserving Azorean identity, being in permanent convergence, along with other Houses of the Azores, with hundreds of Azorean organisation around the world."

"The Regional Government is committed to promoting synergies that strengthen, in addition to the preservation of culture, traditions and the mother tongue, the dissemination of the Azores of today and their potentialities in several areas," stressed Paulo Teves.

"This session is also a way of paying tribute to all Azorean communities and it is also intended to celebrate their effort, their dedication and persistence in the defence of the Azores," stated the Regional Director. The government official added that Azorean communities "have demonstrated the capacity" of stimulating the interest of youngsters in their roots and promoting the preservation of Azorean culture "outside the archipelago."

The House of the Azores of Algarve was officially founded in May 1993, but its inception dates back to early 1992 with the Azores Association of Algarve, an unofficial institution that held the responsibility of disseminating the Azorean islands in that area of Mainland Portugal for nearly two years.

The revival of the cult of the Holy Spirit in that region was one of the most important deeds accomplished by the House of the Azores of Algarve.

The last celebrations of these festivities dated back to the mid 19th century in Tavira. The House of the Azores of Algarve revived the tradition in 1996, almost a century and a half later.