More than a thousand foreigners from fifty different nationalities currently reside permanently on Faial, comprising seven percent of the island’s population. But foreign contributions to Faial are nothing new, as is moreover quite evident in our songbook:

      This foreign contribution began early in the fifteenth century with the arrival of Flemish (Dutch) people who settled on Faial, mainly single men who married Azorean women and formed the Dutra, Goulart, Brum, Silveira, Terra, Rosa, Decq and Bulcão families.

      In addition to their onomastic influence, these Flemings played an important role in Faial’s economy, with large exports of the famous woad and orchil dye plants.

      Later, due to the presence of the American Dabney family on Faial between 1804 and 1892, Horta became the first place in Europe to have American consular representation, starting shortly after the United States’ independence. Business executives and diplomats, three generations of Dabneys (John Bass, Charles Williams and Samuel Willys) brought prosperity and modernity to Faial with contributions in several areas. They introduced us to photography, classical and art music. In the economy: services to navigation, trade in oranges and Pico wine, transshipment of whale oil to the American fleet of whaling ships. In architecture: construction of The Cedars, Bagatelle, the current facilities at Castelinho, and their Porto Pim summer house, where today are Environmental services and the Dabney Museum. In sports: tennis, sailing and regattas. In the environment: they fostered a love for gardening, introducing new ornamental plants and trees, as well as new vegetable and agricultural species.

      From 1893 onward, an impressive foreign community settled in the city of Horta: mostly English, but also Germans, Americans, Italians and French from the companies of the Submarine Telegraph Cables, which connected Horta to Europe and America. These foreigners settled in the city until the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century. And nothing in Faial would ever be the same again, partly due to sixty-two  marriages between foreign telegraph cable company men and Faial women.

      In sports, Englishmen from the cable companies introduced Horta to soccer, and through their efforts in 1909 the Faial Sport Club was founded — the oldest of the Azores’ sports clubs and fifth oldest nationally, right after, in chronological order, Boavista (1903), Benfica (1904), Sporting (1906), Porto (1906) and Leixões (1907).

      The English also introduced water polo, croquet, cricket and bridge (this last at the Sociedade Amor da Pátria) to Horta and the nation.

      At the start of the twentieth century Horta was the stage for inaugural and experimental flights. American 1st Lieutenant Albert Read, piloting an NC4, made the first air voyage across the North Atlantic. Zeppelins, as well as airplanes from Lufthansa, Air France and Imperial Airways, flew to and from Horta.

      During both World Wars, an Allied naval base was established in Horta. And between 1939 and 1945, Pan American clippers moored in the city’s bay, during a golden age of seaplane transport, bringing and taking passengers on trips between the U.S. and Europe. In those years the clippers moored in Horta Bay 656 times, carrying 9,726 passengers, impressive numbers at a time when traveling by seaplane was only within reach of a few.

      After World War II, Faial received the crews of Dutch tugboats, resulting in several marriages with women of Faial.

      From the 1960s onward, but especially since the inauguration of its marina in 1986, Horta transformed into an international yachting center. In terms of so-called pleasure boats, Horta’s marina now ranks first nationally, second in Europe, and fourth worldwide. Horta can truly be proud to have an oceanic marina. The most international in the world, since all North Atlantic shipping stops here, this reinforces its cosmopolitanness.

      The future requires understanding Horta’s historical connection with the sea. And in this regard it is necessary to invest in reinforcing this city as a center of knowledge and research in the area of marine sciences because, when you think about it, our future can only be with the ocean and not just in tourism…

      I return to my first paragraph of this text: seven percent of Faial’s population is foreign, mainly retirees. But some young couples are also beginning to come, their children born on this island. So when you think about it, the future may also pass through here.

Original Portuguese text published as “Do contributo estrangeiro na ilha do Faial” at:

https://graciosadigital.blogspot.com/2026/10/opiniao-victor-rui-dores-do-contributo.html