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 22nd place.
Neighbouring Spain – that now has the highest life expectancy in Europe – tops the list of world’s healthiest nations.
In the past decade there has been a decline in deaths from cardiovascular diseases and cancer in Spain but not in Portugal, where more than half of all deaths are caused by cardiovascular diseases (30%) and cancer (25%).
The main single cause of mortality and morbidity in the country is a stroke (10%).
Portugal has, in fact, the highest prevalence of stroke in Europe. This is probably due to the high number of people with hypertension – one-third of the population has it but only half knows – and the excessive consumption of salt. Every hour three Portuguese suffer from a stroke, one dies and one remains disabled. In particular, women are more at risk as they grow older than men.
A consequence of the widespread existence of stroke and hypertension is the frequent occurrence of dementia.
Of 35 countries investigated, Portugal ranks 4th with respect to dementia as reported by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development).
Alzheimer is the most common form of dementia in Western Europe. Interesting enough, this is not the case in Portugal. A recent epidemiological study from the University of Porto and published in the American Journal of Alzheimer Disease discovered that vascular dementia (57%) is more common in the Portuguese population than Alzheimer (36%).
The good news is that in Portugal nearly 2 in 3 cases of dementia can be averted by a change in lifestyle with a healthy diet and regular exercise, including a reduction of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as obesity, hypertension, smoking, alcohol abuse, high cholesterol, diabetes, excess of salt and stress.
Bom fim de semana Have a healthy weekend (pic Publico/Observador)
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 Celts to Romans and from Visigoths to Arabs. This monumental olive tree is not only a contemporary from pharaoh Ramses II and Moses (1250 years B.C) but also from you and me.
Another recent breakthrough in the green world has been the unraveling by Portuguese scientists of the 
It was on the 21st of March last year that the 234- year- old cork oak from Águas de Moura, a small village in the district of Palmela, was declared ‘
The Portuguese entry for this year’s event – since 2011 organized by the Environmental Partnership Organisation (EPA) in which 15 European countries participate – is once again an oak. This time the 150- year-old 
Once again 
The next day around 300 black youngsters held a spontaneous demonstration at the prestigious Avenida da Liberdade, chanting ‘Stop racist police brutality’.
Slums proliferated in Portugal from the 1970s onward due to 
This story of police brutality reminds of the well-known case from February 2015, when 17 policemen were accused of a number of crimes against a group of black young people in Lisbon’s quarter 
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has repeatedly declared being very concerned with racism in Portugal and the lack of measures taken for the benefit of the 
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 ports of Flanders (Antwerp and Bruges). In this way the consumption of the ‘white gold’ spread across the whole of Europe, altering people’s eating habits.
Although the archipelago of Madeira – geographically isolated in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – had already been shown on earlier maps, it was only in 1418 that the first Portuguese navigators landed on the island of Porto Santo and subsequently discovered the much bigger island, Madeira.
The newly introduced sugar-based economy called for important innovations such as ‘sugar mills’ and ‘grinding stones’, together with the use of special moulds that gave rise to the famous ‘sugarloaves’, the form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until granulated and cube sugars were introduced in the late 19th century. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end-product. The larger the loaf the lower the grade of sugar. A common size that time was 6.4 kg but the finest sugar from Madeira came in small loaves of only 1.4 to 1.8 kg.
From the very beginning of its origins in Madeira, production completely relied on the use of slave labour. Captives were taken along the coast of North and West Africa and brought to work at the sugar mills. When the sugar production in the much vaster territory of Brazil got underway in the 16th century, Madeira lost its privileged position. Sugar from South America was simply cheaper.
Sugarloaf mountain (
January 6. Epiphany – Kings Day – Dia de Reis.
Who were those gift-bearing ‘
According to other sources dating back to medieval times, the visitors were 
Finally, inside a cave on the outskirts of Bethlehem, the star reappears to them as a luminous human child – the Christ child! There, the men kneel down and present the baby Jesus with their three famous gifts – gold, incense, and myrrh. Tradition has it, that in later years they were baptized, became bishops and spent the rest of their lives spreading Christianity in distant lands.
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.
The country’s workforce is relatively 
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 
Eduardo Jorge – quadriplegic, bedridden since age 28 and living in a nursing home – requires continuous care for 24 hours a day. He owns a house and wants to be cared for at home, but doubts if he will get there the 24/7 support, he desperately needs. He demonstrated last week outside 
The intention of the government is to subsidize each centre with 
In addition to a greater autonomy, pressure groups demand more jobs and better accessibility of public buildings and 
The Trade Union Association of Portuguese Judges (ASJP) declared in an open letter to the Minister of Justice this year, that at least 55 
‘As long as our society maintains its patriarchal and male chauvinist features, aggression against women is legitimized’, says Elisabeth Brasil of the Assassinated Women’s Observatory (OMA), accusing the government of not providing the necessary support to the victims of 
The legal system doesn’t seem to be very woman-friendly either and courts often continue to disclaim the perpetrators and hold the victims accountable. Only 
In the meantime, the government becomes convinced that the legislation on sexual crimes needs to be reviewed in the light of the 
But not only the Portuguese legislation is inadequate on women abuse, maintaining a culture of blaming the victim and perpetuate impunity. 
Earlier on tens of thousands of visitors invaded the Altice Arena at the 
Their caretakers – with or without their four-legged friend – will be treated to numerous workshops and lectures on training, healthcare, nutrition, and wellbeing. Moreover, the vast exposition area will accommodate a great variety of start-ups and companies offering a large number of services and products to the beloved animals.
‘This project is a first in Portugal’, say Cristina Pena and João Brochado – the couple that organizes the event – in the newspaper Público. ‘We want to emphasize a positive approach in the rearing of dogs instead of an aversive approximation. We often come across training methods based on punishment and negative reinforcement, leading to aggressiveness and anxiety in the dog.’
Therefore, much attention will be given to training methods that respect the 
Animal protection associations – like the civic movement Unchain your Dog (
The event – created to connect technology with industry – is the global stage for conducting business, recruiting talent and promoting brands.
Since the two previous editions yielded 300 million euro annually on accommodation and transport, government persuaded the organization to maintain the Websummit in Lisbon over the next ten years – until 2028 – and is willing to invest therefor 11 million euros per year.
‘What do these estimates rely on?’ Where is the rationale?
The Portuguese Hotel and Restaurant Association (