Dogs have owners, cats have staff Besides Fado, Football and Fatima, Portugal is well-known for its native dogs.Certainly no lap dogs, but rather working dogs with specific roles in hunting, guarding or herding livestock. Estrela Mountain Dogs are large hairy dogs, bred as livestock guardians, and indigenous to the Serra da Estrela mountain range in […]
Trade routes disappear but words remain. Over the centuries, Portuguese explorers, traders, and colonists have left marks on words used around the world. Take the word Albino that comes from the Portuguese word albino (‘whitish’). Portuguese explorers coined this term in the 17th-18th centuries to describe persons with an unusually white skin they encountered in […]
Portuguese artistic pavement under threat In almost every village, town and city in Portugal you will find parts of the unique traditional Calçada Portuguesa pavement made up of black and white decorative cobblestones. This masonry art craft is unique to Portugal – mainland, islands and former colonies – and an iconic part of its cultural […]
Recognition of the Iberian rabbit as a ‘distinct species’ prevents its extinction International research from Portugal and the UK say the European rabbit is in fact two species split two million years ago, the Iberian one now being in decline.Until recently, scientists took it for granted that only a single species of rabbit lived on […]
Increase in number of immigrants from other Portuguese-speaking countries At the inauguration of his centre-right government in May 2024, Portugal’s prime minister Luis Montenegro, promised that all Portuguese citizens would have a family doctor by the end of 2025, but this promise seems increasingly out of reach. This year there were over 1,6 million patients […]
Worldwide there is a ‘silent majority’ in favour of action on climate change The world is on fire and climate action very popular. So why is it not realised? Research shows that the vast majority of people around the world want more to be done to fight the climate crisis but mistakenly assume their peers […]
Portugal fined for environmental failings Portugal has been fined 10 million euro’s by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for failing to comply with the Habitats Directive (adopted in 1992), that aims to protect over a thousand species, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and plants. It also has been ordered to pay […]
Steady increase in the number of wild boars in the country Javali (wild boar, wild swine or wild pig) has become one of the most controversial wild mammals in Portugal. Once mainly restricted in remote forested and mountainous areas, populations have rapidly expanded and are now present across much of the country. The wild boar […]
TO HOLD, TO GIVE, TO RECEIVE is the theme of the Coimbra Biennale ‘26 If you decide to visit the 17th century Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova – perched atop a hill in the Portuguese university city, and overlooking the medieval centre of Coimbra from across the Mondego river – do bear in mind that the […]
‘As you are drawing something, it often turns into something else’ (Paula Rego) Story Line is the largest ever exhibition of the drawings of the Portuguese-born artist Paula Rego. Curated by her son, Nick Willing, the exposition features work on paper from the 1950s, right around the time she settled in Britain, to her death […]