Works on classified hiking trails: spending authorised across three lots

The Regional Government authorised, through Ordinance No. 630/2026, the distribution across the years 2026 and 2027 of the expenditure for three lots of a contract for the improvement and recovery of classified hiking trails in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. In practice, the financing for these works contracts is spread over two years, with amounts defined for each lot.

What was decided#

The ordinance was signed by the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Environment and Culture, António Eduardo de Freitas Jesus, and by the Regional Secretary for Finance, Duarte Nuno Nunes de Freitas. It was published in the supplement to the Official Gazette of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (JORAM) No. 203, dated 3 November 2026, and enters into force immediately. An ordinance is an instrument signed by members of the Regional Government to regulate specific matters within their area of responsibility.

The three lots#

The contract is divided into three lots, all with values stated excluding VAT, which is added at the legal rate in force:

• Lot 1: Works for the improvement and recovery of classified hiking trails in the RAM, with an overall value of 489,442.51 € (four hundred and eighty-nine thousand, four hundred and forty-two euros and fifty-one cents). The commitments are phased at 122,360.63 € for 2026 and 367,081.88 € for 2027.
• Lot 2: Works for the improvement and recovery of classified hiking trails in the RAM affected by forest fires, with an overall value of 720,738.75 € (seven hundred and twenty thousand, seven hundred and thirty-eight euros and seventy-five cents). The commitments are phased at 180,184.69 € for 2026 and 540,554.06 € for 2027.
• Lot 3: Works for the creation of new classified hiking trails, with an overall value of 1,147,377.67 € (one million, one hundred and forty-seven thousand, three hundred and seventy-seven euros and sixty-seven cents). The commitments are phased at 286,844.42 € for 2026 and 860,533.25 € for 2027.

Amounts, deadlines and conditions#

The 2027 amounts may be increased with the balances recorded in 2026, that is, with the part of the amount planned for 2026 that is not spent within that year. The ordinance does not state the execution deadlines for the works nor the completion date of each lot.

The distribution by year is necessary because the contracts for works extend beyond one economic year. In such cases, the law requires that the expenditure be authorised in advance and recorded as a multi-year commitment, so that the Government knows how much it will pay in each year.

Where the money comes from#

The 2026 expenditure will be funded by the Private Budget of the Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation, IP-RAM (IFCN), which is this regional institute's own budget. The budget codes indicated are organic classification 438010100, economic classification D.02.02.03.S0.00, programme 44, measure 12, funding sources 513 and 386, and projects 51593 and 53812.

The 2027 expenditure will be covered by funds to be included in the following year's budget proposal. The commitments were recorded in the Central System of Multi-Year Commitments under numbers 21306, 21307 and 21308, respectively, in the order of the lots.

Legal framework#

The ordinance applies Regional Legislative Decree No. 8/2025/M, of 30 December, which approved the Budget of the RAM for 2026, in particular Articles 30 and 34. It also invokes Decree-Law No. 197/99, of 8 June, which deals with the authorisation of multi-year commitments, as well as Law No. 8/2012, of 21 February, the budgetary framework law, and Decree-Law No. 155/92, of 28 July, on financial administration.

The text indicates that the ordinance was signed on 10 October 2026, while the Official Gazette publishes it on 10 November 2026. The document does not explain the difference between the two dates.

What is not in the document#

The ordinance does not identify the trails covered by each lot, nor the companies that will carry out the works. It also does not indicate the municipalities where the trails affected by the forest fires referred to in Lot 2 are located.