Canned

‘They sat down, lit their cigars, were about to discuss a business deal involving cork or canned fish, we would know for certain except that Ricardo Reis is now leaving’
(José Saramago, 1992. The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis)

Prepared in azeite (olive oil) or tomato sauce, canned fish – the country’s original fast food – is not only cheap but also rich in omega-3, protein and calcium. Sardines account for nearly one-third of canned fish, the remainder includes mackerel, tuna, codfish, eel, octopus and mussels.

Tinned fish has been part of Portugal’s culinary heritage since 1853 when the national canning industry was born. The traditional production process of selecting, cleaning and cooking the fish to individually canning and wrapping the tins – in 90% still done by hand – hasn’t changed much over time. Sardines are processed and canned the day they are caught and age in the can for maximum flavour.

Locals eat it with everything, from bread to salad. For many years tinned fish suffered from a bad reputation as it was considered food for the poor. That has changed. Restaurants across Lisbon now include dishes made with tinned fish on their menus. ‘It has once again become a national icon’, says Victor Vincente, partner of the Can the Can, a restaurant located in Terreiro do Paço.


What started as a method to preserve fish in the mid-1800s has turned into art. Conservas de peixe makes the perfect souvenir, not only for what’s inside but for the art of the can itself. Fish tins can be found adorned in traditional and contemporary artwork.

The Conserveira de Lisboa in downtown’s Baixa is a third-generation family-run grocery store founded in 1930. It looks like an old-fashioned apothecary but its shelves are filled with house-brand labels like Trincana, Prato do Mar and Minor.

None other than the ANICP – Portuguese National Association of Canned Fish Manufactures – is behind the Loja das Conservas, which opened in 2013. There one can find a wide array of canned fish from more than the dozen canning factories spread throughout the country.

On the advice of Europe’s scientific body ICES ( International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), the capture of sardines has been considerably decreased. ‘If we don’t limit the fishing on our Atlantic coast, we won’t have any more sardines within a couple of years’, explains Ana Paula Vitorino, the Portuguese Minister of Fisheries.

Bom fim de semana          Enjoy the weekend          (pic Potter/Eater/PĂșblico)

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Choking

Contrary to what was hoped for, global CO2 emissions actually increased in 2018.

Every major city in Europe is warmer in the 21st century than it was in the 20th. In December 2015, 195 member states of the UN agreed in the Paris Agreement to limit the temperature increase to 1.5⁰C above preindustrial levels. For several cities on the Iberian Peninsula, this 1.5⁰C threshold has already been reached.

In Lisbon – situated on the Atlantic Coast – the average temperature increased 0.5⁰C and the number of hot days (24-hour average temperature above 24⁰C) nearly doubled since 2000.

Even limited temperature increases have severe consequences. A hotter atmosphere can absorb more water leading to severe floods between longer and dryer periods. Heatwaves lead to excess mortality and mosquito-borne diseases like dengue fever has been creeping North with epidemics in Portugal in 2012. Recent research shows that when the daily temperature increases above 22⁰C, cognitive abilities of schoolchildren decrease.

The expectations are that the Mediterranean will heat up more than the global mean, resulting in a substantial decrease in the production of hydroelectric energy of which Portugal is more dependent than the Northern European countries.

Although Portugal had in 2018 the highest reduction in CO2 emissions of all EU member states, CO2 emissions of its national airline TAP  skyrocketed in the last 2 years. This was mainly the result of an explosive 30% increase in the number of passengers.
Booming tourism has become the main money-spinner generating annually more than € 14 billion in government revenues but the downside is pollution.

Portela airport – with more than 650 flight movements per day – knows few restrictions for night flights with planes coming in just a hundred meters above rooftops.

Ultrathin particles are 20 times higher close to the airport than elsewhere in the city. Measurements of inner-city noise levels taken by the environmental group ZERO showed noise pollution for more than 400.000 people with levels above the legal limits of more than 16 dB at night and 10 dB during daytime.

About 300 giant cruise ships – with at least 600.000 passengers to embark – are every year docking at a brand-new (€ 50 million) terminal. Even though only 2 years old there is no portside electricity for the moored vessels.

Massive amounts of particulate matter and sulphur dioxide (SO2) have made Lisbon’s port the sixth most polluting in Europe.
SO2 emissions from those ships are 85% higher than those emitted by Portugal’s entire car traffic over a year.

Climate change can only be achieved by keeping hydrocarbons in the ground and capturing carbon from the atmosphere. Neither option has produced any result so far.

In order to prevent global warming catastrophe policymakers have to get serious about a carbon tax set high enough to price oil, coal and gas out of the market says William Nordhaus, one of the winners of last year’s Nobel Prize for economics.

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Drugpolicy

‘It is not just about administering methadone, you have to maintain a relationship’

In 2001 Portugal became  – under the leadership of prime minister AntĂłnio Guterres, nowadays UN’s  Secretary-General – the first country to ‘decriminalize’ the possession and consumption of illicit substances, even heroin, and cocaine.

Despite predictions at the time of an increase in drug use and drug tourism by opponents of decriminalization, the opposite happened with huge drops in drug use, overdose deaths, drug-related crime, and HIV infection. New cases of HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) fell from 907 in 2000 – when the country had the highest rate of HIV among PWID in Europe – to just 18 in 2017.

The country’s policy rests on 3 pillars: (i) there is no distinction between so-called soft and hard drugs, (ii) an individual’s unhealthy relationship with drugs often masks unsatisfactory relationships with the world around and (iii) the eradication of all drugs is an impossible goal.

What did and what did the country not do?
It did not change laws on drug trafficking: dealers still go to prison. And it did not ‘legalize’ drug use but rather made the purchase or possession of small quantities (up to a 10 day supply) not a crime.

Methadone clinics, clean needle handouts, supervised injection sites, drug consumption facilities and a pan-ministerial network of support were set up and are still operational today.

There are currently two Threshold Mobile Units in Lisbon – attending approximately 1,200 people a day – and 170 recovery facilities in a country of 10 million people for treatment and education about the harmful effects of drugs.

This public health approach reflects the view that addiction is more a medical challenge than a criminal justice issue; a chronical disease that requires medical care rather than punishment. An additional benefit of the Portuguese model is that it’s far cheaper to treat people than to jail them.

While other states have developed various forms of de facto decriminalization – whereby substances perceived to be less harmful (such as cannabis) rarely lead to criminal prosecution – Portugal remains the only EU member state with a law explicitly declaring drugs to be ‘decriminalized.’

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Booze

If something bad happens, we drink to forget.
If something good happens, we drink to celebrate.
If nothing happens, we drink to make something happen        (Charles Bukowski)


Global consumption of alcohol will rise another 17% over the next decade, after a 10% rise in the last 25 years. Nowadays one-third of all adults drink alcohol, by 2030 half of them will. The highest alcohol intakes are recorded in Europe with Moldava claiming top spot with more than 15 litres of pure alcohol per adult per year.

While in most European countries alcohol consumption among 15-years-old has been halved in the last decade – in Portugal from 16% to 8% – the Portuguese consumption with 12.3 litres per adult per year is still far above the European mean (9.8 litres) and even higher than in Russia (11.7 litres). Three quarters of the Portuguese men and half of the women drink. Excess drinking is on the increase in adults above 45 years of age, especially in women.

What does this mean for the health of the Portuguese? Excessive alcohol intake is associated with road traffic accidents, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, domestic violence, and suicide attempts.
In 2017 more than one-third of the Portuguese drivers – who died on the road – had too much alcohol (>0.5 g/l) in their blood. The highest number in 5 years.


Drinking is an important cause of cancer in the over-50s, particularly in women. Research in the UK showed that one in 13 breast cancers are alcohol-related and a quarter of cancer deaths in women over 50 linked to drinking habits.


In 2018, the medical journal The Lancet concluded that although alcohol use among youngsters has declined, risky drinking behavior – like binge drinking – remains concerning high.

A more recent study analyzing alcohol consumption under 500.000 adults and published in the same journal, showed that alcohol increases the blood pressure and the risk of stroke. A finding that should ring bells in Portugal, that hasn’t only a substantial alcohol consumption but also the highest prevalence of stroke in Europe.

Given the fact that there is no safe level of drinking, the public health policy should be to prioritize measures to reduce drinking through increasing taxation, setting the price according to the strength of the drink, curbs on marketing and restricting the places where people can buy alcohol.

But the consumer also has the right to be informed about the dangers. Labeling of bottles of wine and cans of beer with ‘alcohol causes cancer’ – like the Irish government proposed last year – might help to inform the general public in a better way. How many women actually know that alcohol causes breast cancer?

One day someone mentioned to Fernando Pessoa ‘ You drink like a sponge’. Portugal’s most famous poet replied ‘Not like a sponge. Like a sponge shop, and with a storeroom attached.’ He died from booze at the age of 47.


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Corruption

Portugal has no right-wing, left-wing parties, nothing, there’s a bunch of villains who come together to steal together  –  JosĂ© Saramago

Perceived corruption in Portugal has for many years been just below the European average, according to the 2018 Corruption Index from Transparency International (www.transparancy.org).
This index ranks 180 countries on how corrupt their public sector is. The higher the number (0-100 scale) the less corruption. Portugal ranks 30 worldwide with a score of 64. Denmark and New Zealand rank first (score 88),  Somalia last  (score 10).

The reason for this standstill is the lack of political will and the ability to establish ethical conduct standards. This is reflected in the failure of the Parliamentary Commission on Transparency – established three years ago – to control members of parliament,  judges and attorneys. But also the government is to blame through its lack of vigilance in preventing abuse and unwillingness to punish corruption when it occurs.

The low number of convictions and the fact that 94% of the corruption cases are archived without trial, doesn’t help either to restore confidence in the authorities. ‘A national strategy to combat corruption – independent of the political colour of the government – is needed, believes JoĂŁo Batalha, president of Transparency and Integrity Civil Association (TIAC).

Former president Ramalho Eanes stated last month that corruption in the public service is a ‘complex problem that proliferates through society. Our civil society isn’t strong and autonomous enough against the state. The elected politician is more a delegate of the party than a representative of the voter and it is very difficult to change this culture.

Corruption costs the country at least 18 billion euros per year. That is about 8% of the GDP and more than the annual Health budget.
A recent inquiry by Eurostat under Portuguese civilians showed that more than 80% of the respondents were of the opinion that corruption is an essential part of the business culture.

It is therefore not surprising that Portugal is the least compliant of 49 European countries in the fight against corruption. A report from the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption group (GRECO ) by the end of 2018 revealed that nearly three-quarters of its recommendations – in particular on political parties and the judiciary – were not fulfilled.
(red bars in figure)

Not only the Council of Europe is dissatisfied. The Organisation for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD ) concluded at the beginning of this year, that the judiciary system in Portugal isn’t functioning properly and calls for special courts to judge corruption and white-collar crime. It also recommends an electronic declaration of interest register for all members of the government and public administration employees.


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Frogs

The Spanish company DIA, owner of the supermarket chain Minipreço recently announced the removal of any ceramic frogs at the entrance of its 530 stores in Portugal. The reason for his was the complaint of a customer, who sent photos to the newspapers of a frog at the entrance of a Minipreço branch in Vårzeas, in the Leiria district.

The racist practice of Portuguese shopkeepers to use bright green ceramic frogs at the entrance of shops and restaurants is to scare away Roma, who consider frogs symbols of evil and bad luck. ‘I know that the Portuguese law forbids discrimination, but I’ am not forced to put up with people who steal and cause trouble’, admits an anonymous vendor from Porto.

Roma communities arrived in Portugal in the 15th century but were only accepted as citizens in 1822. Persecuted for centuries and subjected to repressive laws, they are discriminated in employment, education and housing.

‘Most Roma live below the poverty line and are not properly informed about their rights. There is a lot of resignation: many Roma don’t complain because they don’t think complaining will change anything’, says Marta Pereira, activist and SOS racism member (www.sosracismo.pt)

According to a report published last year by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, xenophobia and racism are prevalent in Portugal, in particular, aimed at gypsies and blacks. ‘Portugal’s ‘racial colour-blindness makes it impossible to prove institutional racism’, Pereira states.

Although the country adopted in 2013 a National Strategy for the Integration of Roma Communities, successful measures against exclusion and discrimination have not been implemented. ‘The Roma continue to lack access to housing and jobs. The Government’s plan is simply not good enough to address the structural problems Roma’s face’, Pereira explains. ‘On top of that minorities are often blamed for their own marginalization.’

‘It’s so common in Portugal to insult Roma, that it is seen as something normal. What scares me most, is how normalized the prejudice is.’   ( Maria Gil, Roma actress )

Bom fim de semana               Enjoy your weekend            (pic PĂșblico/JEcon)

 

 

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Dumping

“The planet is witnessing the appearance of new creatures, ones that have already conquered all continents. At first glance, they seem very delicate and frail but this is an illusion – they are long-lived, almost indestructible: their fleeting bodies won’t decompose for some three hundred more years.
These plastic bags are empty on the inside, and this historic foregoing of all contents unexpectedly affords them great evolutionary benefits”
( Olga Tokarczuk in Flights – Man Booker International 2018)

Plastic has proven to be indispensable in our global economy; most is used as packing material. Despite the fact that over 13 million tons of plastic are annually dumped into our oceans – every minute a truckload – the global production of plastic is still on the increase.

In Europe circa 30% of plastic is recycled.
If it is up to the Portuguese Parliament plastic bags – as well as plastic packing material for fruit, vegetables and bread – will be forbidden from June 2020.

Every Portuguese citizen produces about 480 kg of garbage per year (~ 1,3 kg per day), just as much as the average European. However, the separate collection of paper, glass and plastic in Portugal is still very limited and only 10-15% recycled.

Since the tourist boom some seven years ago, urban waste production in the capital has nearly doubled. Especially downtown – Cais do SodrĂ©, MisericĂłrdia and Bairro Alto, where most tourists stay and the nightlife takes place – garbage accumulates. It leaves no doubt that – besides separation of waste – the frequency of collection services has to be intensified.

Another major polluter is the textile industry, the second largest after the oil industry. Although one can nowadays buy a T-shirt and a pair of jeans for almost no money, few people realize the enormous footprint – of nearly 15.000 litres of water – it takes to produce them. The manufactory of clothing has doubled in the last 15 years, whereas its lifespan was halved. Fast fashion rules!

Each year the Portuguese throw away 200,000 tons of textile (~20 kg per person). Although in some places – e.g. Braga –selective collection of textile takes place, the majority of unwanted clothes end up in the incinerator or on the garbage dump.


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Backstreet

Paula Rego, one of the most famous living artists has said the recent anti-abortion movement criminalizes women and believes recent legislation banning the procedure in some US states is dangerously regressive and will force women into finding potentially deadly ‘backstreet solutions’.

The painter – who was born in Portugal but lives in London – has spent her career focusing on women’s rights and abortion. ‘It seems unbelievable that these battles have to be fought all over again. It is grotesque’, she stated.

Back in 1998, the now 84-year-old artist created a series of paintings – The Abortion Pastels – in response to a referendum to legalize abortion in Portugal. At that time at least 2 women per year died as a result of secretive and often tortuous illegal abortions. The women who survived the severe bleeding and septicaemia risked 3 years in prison.

The referendum was defeated as a result of an intimidating lobby of the ultra-conservative Catholic church and a very low turnout among voters.

It lasted until 2007 before this mistake was corrected and abortion laws in Portugal were liberalized.
In a provocative interview from that time Rego is very clear about the hypocrisy and horror of the rusty abortion policy in her country. And she is proud that her paintings – highlighting the fear and danger of illegal abortion – were useful as propaganda material in the 2007 referendum. ‘It is imperative women have a choice’, she emphasizes.

Rego’s series depicts a theme uncomfortable in Western art – often only concerned with the idealisation of womanhood. Its cruel realism exposes a very real picture for many – especially poor – women in countries beneath the Equator, where every 9 minutes a woman still dies as a result of an illegal abortion. ‘If you are rich it is easier to have an abortion, usually by travelling to another country. Poor women are butchered.’

The exhibition Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance’ will be the first major retrospective of her work since the 1960s. To support the exhibition – that opens on 15 June at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, UK – the artist has offered a limited edition print from her celebrated series hoping the etching Untitled Abortion, 2000 will help draw attention to the dangers of making abortion illegal again.

Bom fim de semana          Have a nice weekend             (pics Womensart/Sapo)

 

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Diversity

‘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. In 1143, Lisbon was conquered from the Moors by King Alfonso Henriques, becoming a Christian city. The birth of Mouraria goes back to the same period, built outside the walls as the only territory where Moors were authorized to reside.

In the 16th century, the first black migrants were forced into slavery in Lisbon, in that era the largest European centre of the flourishing slave trade. The number of slaves present in the capital reached 10% of the total population, that time comprising 100,000 inhabitants.

In the 18th century, the rebuilding of the city – after its apocalyptic earthquake on All Saints Day, 1 November 1755  – led to significant flows of migrant workers from Galicia, Spain’s most north-western province. In the course of the 19th and 20th century, an exodus from the countryside ignited major demographic growth in the capital just as migration from the Portuguese colonies, in response to the need for labour.

On 25 April 1974, Portugal became a democracy after 48 years of dictatorship. Between April and November 1975, Portugal took in half a million Portuguese and their descendants from its ex-colonies in Africa.

At the end of the ‘80s, a growing number of migrants began to arrive from Brazil, benefitting from a special provision for regularisation. Finally, from the ‘90s onwards, migration towards Lisbon has involved new areas such as Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Romania) and Asia ( Bangladesh, India).

 Mouraria is the most multicultural neighbourhood of the capital. Here you find everything from African grocers to Chines tea, Indian clothing, religious talismans, Bengali restaurants, mosques and halal butchers. The percentage of foreign residents (25%) is well above the average for the city (10%) and the nation (less 4%).

Considered until recently a socially degraded area – situated close to the historical city centre – the neighbourhood is nowadays a breeding ground for integration with tastes, sounds and smells from every corner of the world.

In the heart of Mouraria resides the Associação Renovar a Mouraria (Renovate the Mouraria). This NGO not only develops activities to support the local community (i.e. Portuguese lessons for migrants, a legal help desk, empowerment courses for women and educational support for children) but also organizes cultural events and festivities linked to Saint Anthony in June, when the streets fill with music and the smell of grilled sardines.

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Golden-egg2

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 visa or similar programs.
To obtain such a golden permit in Portugal one has to invest at least half a million euros in property in exchange for permanent residency and visa-free travel through Europe’s Schengen area.

In the past six years – between October 2012 and January 2019 – over 7000 golden visas have been issued by the Portuguese authorities. In particular to Chinese (> 4000), followed by Brazilians, South Africans, Turks and Russians. It yielded the treasury the sweet amount of 4.3 billion euros.

Just like luxury goods, residence rights are for sale. A multibillion-euro industry but not without risks. Real estate has always and everywhere been attractive to money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.
Transparency International – the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption – recently accused the Portuguese government of being unable to control their golden visa program.

A special commission of the European Parliament suggested abolishing all golden permits as the potential economic benefits of these programmes do not compensate for the serious security risks. Unfortunately not all member states agree. A European database will instead be created, to verify if applicants for a golden permit at least have no criminal record.

The Portuguese government is going to maintain its golden visa program against the wish of the EU but is willing to make legislative changes to improve transparency. ‘Contrary to what happens in other countries, Portugal will continue assigning only residency – not citizenship – in exchange for investment, declared the Secretary of State for International Relations Eurico Brilhante Dias lately.

The majority in the Portuguese Parliament even wants to go a step further in the residency scheme for wealthy foreigners by introducing ‘green visas’ to investors, who spend at least half a million euros in ecotourism, renewable energy and other environmental projects that contribute to cut carbon emissions.
Much to the displeasure of the Left Bloc (BE), who wishes the program to end altogether and emphasises the hypocrisy between an immigration regime for the rich and the poor.

Bom fim de semana        Have a great weekend                (pic Publico/Sapo)

 

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