Travel Guide Pico

The second island of the Azores, with its surface area, is very sparsely populated. And, with the exception of its three large towns (Madalena, Lajes do Pico and São Roque), the island is quite deserted so that it can be searched for hours without crossing a great world. It would be wrong, however, to rely on this calm. The island, which owes its name to the volcano which is a large part of it (2 531 m, the highest summit in the Azores and Portugal), houses some of the most "singular" inhabitants of the archipelago, but the most welcoming ones. Madalena, which benefits from the liaisons, is the largest village in Pico and plays the informal Capitals of the island, hosting the main banking agencies, a large post office, the most recent hotel and some shops. Nothing, however, can give thought to a capital in the classical sense. Rather, it is a canton head-location, the role of the two small towns, the capital of which is the only reason for its conselho (the basic administrative division in Portugal), one of the three that exists in Pico.It is difficult for Pico to talk about Madalena as the main city without raising the anger or mistrust of the inhabitants of other villages, all of whom are persuaded to live in their personal capital.During the division into three concelhos, it was discussed to allocate the Pico Summit, culminating not only in the Azores but throughout Portugal, in one of the three municipalities, a decision that could provoke civil war. Finally, it was a Solomon ruling that exercised: The island was divided into three approximate triangles, each of which has a tip exactly leading to the Pico summit.An appalling consequence of this rivalry: no hospital on the island, no agreement could be reached on its location. The Pico inhabitants are therefore reduced, when their condition exceeds the skills of the three first aid clinics, to take the lead for Faial. If you take the boat, you will see a médicalisée room with two beds on the side. During our stay in 2010, the authorities had plans to set up a helicopter between Pico and Faial for more speed… The inhabitants ironisaient "You don't have a hospital but they will give us a helicopter! What good news… "On the other hand, try, if you like the risk, to tell a former São Roque whaler that his colleagues in Lajes will be better off, and you will understand that the histoires stories, which sometimes target the nearby boat rather than the sperm whale, are not all legends… In fact, you will probably be told that any tourist guide honestly written should ignore the entire Azores, except Pico. the island retains only one third, variable third parties following the interlocutor.