Portuguese ceramic tiles encapsulate centuries of history and artistic evolution Azulejo – derived from the Arab word Az-zulayi (‘polished stone’) – is a form of Portuguese and Spanish painted tin-glazed ceramic work found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, houses, restaurants, and even railway or subway stations. Although an ornamental art form, these […]
Portuguese fishing communities swallowed by giant Dutch family company The North Atlantic waters are valuable for their cod, redfish, and halibut species. With fish prices increasing, the fish right is big business. National governments and the EU no longer control fishing rights but a few giant fish companies do, like the Dutch Parlevliet & Van […]
Drought, wildfires and rising temperatures One of Portugal’s oldest environmental groups Quercus has marked the end of 2023 with the best and worst environmental events of last year. The creation of more marine protected areas (especially in the Azores), the rejection of a mega solar farm by the Portuguese Environment Agency APA – planned to […]
‘Em todas as ruas te encontro – On every street I encounter you’(from: Pena Capital, 1957) To celebrate the centenary of the birth of Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos (1923-2006), the country will mark a year of reflection on the work and life of its most famous surrealist poet, activist, and painter. Last month the festivities […]
‘One of the most innovative cities’ Cascais is a town in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, situated on the western edge of the Tagus river, between the Sintra hills and the Atlantic Ocean. It has about 225,000 inhabitants and is one of Europe’s oldest holiday resorts.The municipality is one of the wealthiest in the country – […]
‘In Portugal, every half hour at least one person dies from smoking’ Despite restrictions imposed in recent years, the prevalence of tobacco consumption in Portugal increased from 48% to 51% and that of alcohol consumption from 49% to 56% in the past five years, according to the 5th National Survey on Psychoactive Substance Use in […]
No stress, fresh food with fish and vegetables and a daily walk in nature Bobi, the oldest dog in history, died last month on the 21st of October 2023, at the age of 31 years and 165 days.He was awarded the title ‘oldest dog in the world’ by the Guinness Book of Records in February […]
In 25 years Portugal invested three times more in roads than in railways European governments have systematically neglected their railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding their road network, according to research from the German think tank Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation in collaboration with Greenpeace. In 25 years (1994-2018), the […]
‘Portugal is still a backward country’ – Elisa Ferreira (EU commissioner) Portugal is about twice as big as the Netherlands and has 10 million inhabitants, of which 2 million live abroad. Last week – on the 5th of October – Republic Day was celebrated, memorizing the overthrow of the monarchy in 1910. Since the Carnation […]
Governments are trivializing young people’s concerns about the climate crisis Next Wednesday – on the 27th of September – 32 countries are being taken to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg by six Portuguese youngsters. They will argue that the nations’ policies to tackle global heating are inadequate and in breach of […]