‘Bury the dead and feed the survivors’ (Marques de Pombal, 1755)
Le Figaro: ‘The Portuguese mystery’
Int Busin Times: ‘Portugal stands tall in the midst of the chaos’
The Guardian: ‘Swift action kept Portugal’s coronavirus crisis in check’
Der Spiegel: ‘The Portuguese miracle’
El País: ‘Portugal, the southern Swedes’
Euronews: ‘Why has Portugal not been as badly hit as Spain?’
Politico: ‘How Portugal became Europe’s coronavirus exception’
Portugal’s successful battle against Covid-19 has come under international media spotlight and regarded by many as exemplary. With a quarter of the population of big brother Spain, Portugal has around one-tenth of the number of cases and a three times lower mortality rate.
There are a number of different theories for why the virus has caused so much less suffering than in neighbouring Spain.
The hardest to disprove of is: ‘Portugal has its pilgrimage site of Fátima’.
With just 4.2 critical care beds per 100.000 people – the lowest in the EU – and an underfunded public health service, the Portuguese people understood very clearly – after witnessing the horror in Madrid and Milan – that if they wanted to survive, they had to do more than others in pushing forward the number of new cases. Citizens started self-isolation and kept their children from school at the end of February, anticipating the government’s decision to a shutdown in March.
Self-discipline, more preparation time, swift implementation of measures, a geographical location at the edge of Europe, political stability and a bit of luck are probably the main reasons for the relatively mild outbreak in Portugal thus far.
Lisbon’s streets are left to joggers and cats, its glorious beaches cordoned off, the economy asphyxiated, border crossings to Spain sealed, schools and universities closed and more than half of the population leaving home only once a week or less for food, medication and exercise.
Nevertheless, the government prepares to gradually reopen services, businesses and commercial establishments with ‘masks on’, as the economy simply cannot afford to wait under lockdown until the coast is clear.
Schools might restart in early May on a trial basis and even go back into operation on May 13, the anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary in Fátima. Se Deus quiser (Inshallah)!
Fique em casa Stay at home (pic Observ, Público, Sapo)
All migrants, including asylum seekers with pending applications at immigration (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras), will be treated as permanent residents until at least July 1, granting them full access to the National Health Service, welfare benefits, bank accounts, work, and rental contracts during the corona outbreak.
The 
Portugal declared the State of 
Schools in Portugal even closed before any deaths were registered.
Portugal is doing comparatively well so far. But the authorities’ advice to stay at home and keep distance has to be maintained to prevent further suffering. Researchers at the Imperial College in London suggested that without these measures deaths in Portugal could reach 70,000.
With the peak of the virus predicted in May, it is becoming increasingly clear that quarantine measures in Portugal probably have to stay in force till the end of June.
To finish off with a quote of the famous Dutch footballer Johan Cruijff ‘ every disadvantage has its advantage.’
When the number of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed the 1,000 mark – with six reported deaths – the Portuguese Government announced the State of 
Non-essential business and schools closed. People urged to leave their houses only for food, medicines and walking the dog. Remote working from home became the rule. 
‘Social distancing’ and ‘protecting the elderly’ have become keywords in the fight against the new virus – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The intention of prime minister Antonio Costa is not to close the country down – like in France – even though he has the constitutional support with this State of Emergency to do so. The government, however, will – given the developments in Spain and Italy where the death tolls are the worst in Europe – implement further restrictions if necessary.
The Socialist Government of Antonio Costa is convinced that upgrading Montijo Air Force Base 6 on the south bank of Lisbon’s Tagus estuary, is the best option.
In addition, the national airline 
Moreover, at least 30.000 citizens in the Netherlands have signed a petition objecting to the ‘ecologically disastrous plan.’ It concerns the survival of Netherlands national 
Researchers also say birds are at risk of colliding with aircraft and will be driven away by the noise. The reaction of Secretary of State Alberto Souto de Miranda was stunning ‘people should not worry because birds are not 
The latest obstacle in starting construction on a 1.3 billion euro project are two Communist-led 
In the last four years over 
Descendants to 
Many of the expelled Jews have maintained the Portuguese language (or Ladino, a merger of Castilian and Portuguese), the religious and food rites of Jewish worship in Portugal and preserved family surnames, records, objects kept for generations and documents proving their Portuguese origin.
Lisbon is Europe’s Green Capital 2020. A recognition of the work the city has been done over the past years towards a greener and more people-friendly city (
Extension of 
To date, the capital has around 800.000 trees. Lisbon’s biggest – 10 km² sized – Monsanto park, not only generates much-desired shadow but captures CO2 as well. One of the first initiatives of the City Council in January has been the planting of 
Although the sale of electric cars doubled in 2019, compared to the previous year, there are only 1000 public 
It is difficult to understand why the city is mobilized to be the Green Capital 2020 when major political decisions point into the 
In Portugal – where palliative care is no priority – a first training course of end-of-life doulas has started last September.
The term doula originates from ancient Greece meaning a helping individual; a servant or in extreme cases, a slave. Since the 1960s the term is in use for women who support pregnant mothers during childbirth. Unlike midwives, they do not serve in a medical capacity.
‘It will be up to the doula to act as an intermediary between the needs of each other, to try to harmonize conflicts’, explains nurse 
The work of doulas doesn’t replace that of health professionals and has nothing to do with 
What began in a country with a large following Christianity as an alternative food to the Church’s fasting of meat during Lent, later became associated with Christmas. The traditional meal is called Consoada. It consists of boiled salt-dried codfish – soaked for 2 or 3 days to remove most of the salt – boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, boiled chickpeas, and boiled cabbage accompanied with a dressing of chopped raw onion, garlic, parsley, and lots of olive oil!
Cod (bacalhau) is the nation’s favourite dish. According to the locals, there are 365 different ways to prepare it. Well-known 
The fish isn’t native to Portuguese waters. The Vikings – who used to take air-dried cod on their sea voyages – probably introduced bacalhau in Portugal. To preserve it longer, the Basques went a step further by salting the fish before drying.
Traditional fishing far away from home was easier said than done. Each fisherman was assigned a dory – a small flat-bottomed fishing boat – which was lowered from the mothership into the ice-cold waters once they reached the banks of Newfoundland. The fisherman then ventured all alone into the foggy sea and was left to his own till his boat was filled the day’s catch. The documentary 
This balance began to fall apart in the 14th century, when the trend to isolate the non-Christian communities intensified, resulting in segregation laws and Jewish and Moorish quarters. Discrimination against Jews and Muslims grew steadily culminating in the Edict of Expulsion – signed by King 
The dirtiest work practiced by enslaved African women was that of collecting and carrying human waste, because of the weight of the excrement pot, its filthy content and the long distances they had to travel with it on their head. Not only in ancient Lisbon was the black women the hand that cleaned, even in our modern society this phenomenon continues to be very persistent!
There are roughly two ways to say tea in the world. One is like the English expression – thee in Dutch, tee in German or thé in French. The other is a variation of cha – chay in Russian, chai in Swahili or shay in Arabic. Both variations come from China. The words that sound like cha spread across the land, the tea saying spread over water.
But the Chinese character for cha is pronounced as te in the Min Nan variety of Chinese, spoken in the coastal province of Fujian.
Although it’s fairly commonly known that tea originated in China, it is far less known that it was a particular Portuguese woman, who inspired its popularity in England. Let’s go back to 1662, when