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 […]
‘Assistance, work and independence’ ‘We aren’t 2nd hand citizens!’ Last May, Joao Rodriguez – a 95% physically restricted and wheelchair dependent quadriplegic from Figueira da Foz – was happy his brother could bring him to Lisbon, to attend the nationwide demonstration of disabled people, demanding a raise in the budget for the Support Centres for […]
Zé is dood Zé is dead stond op de App the App said dinsdag on Tuesday om half twee […]
‘Sex without consent is rape’ – Istanbul Convention, 2011 ‘Violence against women is a crime and a shame for the country’ – Rosa Monteiro, Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality Although in Portugal verbal sexual harassment is a crime – with penalties varying from a fine of up to 120 euros to a year […]
Chained dogs suffer from stress and behavioral problems and are also more vulnerable to being attacked by other dogs November is the month of Magusto – the traditional autumn festival –but from now on November will also go down in history as Month of Summits. Earlier on tens of thousands of visitors invaded the Altice […]
‘The best technology conference on the planet’ – Forbes ‘Where the future goes to be born’ – The Atlantic ‘The giants of the web assemble’ – Wall Street Journal ‘A great conclave of the tech industry’s high priests’ – New York Times What do have 70.000 visitors (from 170 countries), 1200 speakers ( one third […]
The Lisbon metropolis – with 18 municipalities – accommodates about 2.8 million inhabitants, who all seem to have the same addiction: their car! Unfortunately, a still growing number of Portuguese use the car at the expense of public transport, 5 times less utilized for commuting. Each day 370.000 vehicles drive into the capital, in general with […]
‘Olá Pedro, wat ben jij mooi afgevallen, gefeliciteerd!’, lispelt de zwaarlijvige, naar adem happende Dona Maria Filomena Chuva da Souza Pinto tegen een in het gangpad hangende dikzak, terwijl ze in het voorbijgaan even zijn spierwitte – in een veel een te kort broekje gestoken – bovenbeen beroert, waarna ze steunend haar weg naar het […]
It is tempting to sigh once in a while ‘strange fellows, those Portuguese’, just like cartoon character Obelix did at the time of Julius Caesar when he used to grumble ‘ils sont fous, ces Romain’. If you are what you eat (drink, smoke) or love (males, females, yourself), then countries certainly aren’t the same. There […]