‘For me, Mouraria is like the Tower of Babel, built and rebuilt every day, despite the diversity of languages and its perfect disharmony’ – (Fatima, teacher and descendant of Cape Verdean migrants) The history of Lisbon and Mouraria – one of the city’s oldest quarters – both originate from the presence of diverse people and cultures. […]
There is a lot of discussion about mass tourism and golden permits but in Portugal, one is inclined to say: ‘don’t kill a chicken with golden eggs.’ After reviewing the tourism industry, we will now take a look at another precious egg of the Portuguese state: the golden visa program. Twenty EU states have golden […]
When the Portuguese sailed to Japan in the 16th-Century, they brought a special dish with them. Today called tempura. In 1543 a Chinese ship with three Portuguese sailors on board – António da Mota, Francisco Zeimoto and António Peixoto – heading for Macau was swept off course and ended up on the Japanese island of […]
There is much discussion about mass tourism and golden permits but in Portugal one is inclined to say: ‘don’t kill the chicken with the golden eggs.’ Let’s take a closer look at the expanding tourism industry. Few destinations have witnessed a boom in tourism like Portugal. According to UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) the country […]
A morte é a curve na estrade ( death is a bend in the road ) – Fernando Pessoa According to the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, which ranks 169 economies by factors contributing to health – overweight, lifestyle, tobacco & alcohol use and quality of health care – Portugal is in […]
Trees are sanctuaries. Those who know how to talk and to listen to them will find the truth – Hermann Hesse Portugal’s oldest tree – 3350 years old – can be admired in Mouriscas, the municipality of Abrantes. As one of the oldest trees in the world, it has provided shadow to innumerous people, from […]
Portugal is one of the most racist countries in the EU – European Social Survey Once again police violence against an underprivileged community has hit the headlines. This time the battlefield is called Jamaica. Not the home of Bob Marley’s reggae but a ghettoized neighbourhood of merely black Afro-descendants in the southern outskirts of greater […]
For about 70 years Madeira was the most important sugar producer in Europe The introduction of sugar cane farming by the Portuguese into Madeira towards the first half of the 15th century – some decades before Columbus discovered America – meant that sugar could be exported, at first through Lisbon and then directly to the […]
January 6. Epiphany – Kings Day – Dia de Reis. In Portugal the day to eat Bolo Rei, a ring-shaped cake with a small hidden surprise inside. Also, the day to put all Christmas decorations away. In neighbouring Spain, the presents under the Christmas tree will only then be unpacked as it were the three […]
Five years after the peak of its economic crisis, Portugal’s future looks bright. There is more confidence, more consumption and there are more young people in college. In December the country succeeded in paying off the last installment of the 78 billion euro loan to the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The accelerated […]