Tag Archive for: Portugal

Schooling

‘In Portugal, it is unacceptable to suggest that a child is better off at a special school’

Portugal has transferred almost all children in special education to ‘normal’ schools. In the Netherlands, the number of children in special schools actually increased in recent years. Follow the Money investigated the differences in both countries.

The inclusive approach in Portugal has been enshrined in a number of education laws. In 2008, the government decided to close special schools for primary and secondary education and to place students back into regular education.

With this new legislation, the school no longer needs a medical diagnosis to intervene. The focus now is on needs rather than diagnosis. If a child is acting hyperactive and has difficulty concentrating, he/she can get guidance from a school psychologist without a proper ADHD diagnosis.

Schools draw up an individual support plan for each child with special needs (learning delays, mental or physical problems) and are assisted by physiotherapists, psychologists, speech therapists or special-need teachers. In 2017 the number of pupils with special needs in regular education had doubled and nowadays almost all children with special needs (over 98%) go to regular schools.

Portuguese schools receive a fixed amount per student and can apply for extra money for children with special needs; to pay for psychologists, wheelchair lifts or teaching materials. Inclusive policies are not only aimed at students with special needs or disabilities. Extensive attention is also paid to the backgrounds and cultures of migrant children, who nowadays constitute 15% of the pupils in primary and secondary education.

Despite the many adjustments the schools have to make in the field of education (special-need teachers, therapists) and infrastructure (e.g. wheelchair accessibility), the country spends less on education than the Netherlands. Last year education expenditure in Portugal was exactly at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) average of 5.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while Dutch spending was 5.4%.

At the same time Portugal showed – according to the OECD – a positive trajectory on the international Pisa research, which compares the scores of 15-year olds in the fields of reading skills, mathematics and sciences.

Overall scores are falling in recent years, a trend that is visible in many countries. Possible explanations are migration, increasing inequality, use of smartphones and the impact of the corona epidemic.

In 2022, Portuguese children scored around the OECD average on all three parts, higher than at the start of Pisa in 2000. In reading skills, the Netherlands has been scoring worse than Portugal for the last five years and in mathematics and sciences, the Netherlands still has a slight advantage but the level drops faster than in Portugal.

The Dutch Education Inspectorate (Onderwijsraad) mentioned Portugal in their State of Education 2024 as an example of a country where inclusion is the norm. The Netherlands itself failed to achieve that goal.
Although the Dutch Appropriate Education Act from 2014 was intended to reduce the number of students in special education, their numbers only continue to increase.


Enjoy the week            Approveite a semana               (pic JAC)

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Portuguese

‘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 Revolution in 1974, urbanization has increased at the expense of the countryside, and the coastal region has become more densely populated, younger, and richer. The two metropolitan areas of Lisbon (at the Tagus river) and Porto (at the river Douro) – cover 5% of the territory, half of the population, and more than 50% of the gross domestic product, an important indicator of economic wealth.

The isolated geographical position (‘where the land ends and the sea begins’) and the struggle to escape poverty and overcome the scarcity of natural resources have always been a constant in Portuguese history. It stood at the origin of the Portuguese discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries and was the cause of successive waves of emigration.

The impossibility of combining national sovereignty with regular trade relations with Spain has pushed the country towards the Atlantic and Britain was Portugal’s main trading partner for centuries. The importance of this relationship dates back to the Treaty of Windsor in 1386.

During the Estado Novo of dictator Salazar and despite the political affinities of the two autocratic regimes, Portugal and Spain kept their backs turned and trade relations between the two countries remained almost non-existent until their entry into the European Union. Nowadays, Spain is the main market for the Portuguese export of goods.

The small size of the economy and the awareness of its economic backwardness in relation to the more developed European countries is a fundamental feature of the Portuguese identity.

As said, things changed in 1986 when Portugal was integrated into the European community. Businesses got access to the latest technologies and global markets and European funds made it possible to catch up with the huge backlog in infrastructure ( i.e. roads) and education.

Paradoxically, progress did not lead to equivalent production growth, and Portuguese workers were long seen as good professionals in tasks that did not require high qualifications (construction, cleaning, clothing industry).

The poor growth and the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century lowered the country’s expectations. Many citizens lost confidence in the country’s ability to change and innovate. This loss in confidence was one of the reasons why nearly half a million Portuguese emigrated between 2010 and 2020. It also reflects the giving up of many Portuguese to change their country.

Progress was also not able to solve one of the biggest problems in society: the high incidence of poverty among the young and the elderly. Portugal is one of the most unequal countries in the EU. Being born into an economically and socially disadvantaged family is practically a condemnation and hard to tackle in a low-growth economy.

Demographic projections point to an accelerated aging and ‘shrinking’ of the population. An older population tends to be more resistant to change and innovation, which can be an obstacle to productivity growth. More innovation and investment in workers’ skills will be essential to offset the negative effects of population decline and aging.

Over the past decades, the Portuguese have accumulated one of the highest debts in the EU as a percentage of GDP. The rise in debt has coincided with a fall in savings which became one the lowest in the EU. High debt and low savings make households more vulnerable to shocks, such as the debt crisis in 2011 or the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country has definitely undergone profound economic and social changes but as long as the most qualified young people emigrate, Portugal will continue to live below its means. This is not just a failure of the economy but also of the Portuguese democracy.

Enjoy the week                               Aproveite a semana












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Carnation

Many people will be familiar with the Carnation Revolution in Portugal that on April 25, 1974, overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo (New State) regime, established by fascist leader António de Oliveira Salazar.
Last month its 49th anniversary – a national holiday coined as Dia de Liberdade (Freedom Day) – was celebrated all over the country.

But how became the carnation the symbol of the military coup organized by military officers of the Armed Forces Movement (Movimento das Forças Armadas, MFA), that opposed the brutal regime and the ongoing war in Portugal’s African colonies (i.e. Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Saõ Tomé and Principe)?

An explanation is, that almost no shots were fired during the peaceful takeover of the military and that when the population took to the streets to celebrate the end of the dictatorship and the colonial wars in Africa, carnations were put into the silent muzzles of the rifles of the armed forces.

However, an alternative interpretation is related to a special woman named Celeste de Caeiros. On April 25, 1974, she was 40 years old and a waitress at the Franjinhas restaurant, on Braamcamp street, next to the Marquis of Pombal square.

That date happened to be the restaurant’s 1st anniversary and red carnations were purchased to hand out to the customers. When Celeste arrived, she was told to go home because a revolution was underway and the restaurant closed. She ended up taking the flowers home when she ran straight into Portuguese soldiers and tanks making their way to the government buildings.

One of the soldiers asked her for the cigarette but as Celeste didn’t smoke, she offered him a red carnation instead which he put into the barrel of his shotgun. In no time his fellow soldiers started doing the same. Photographs capturing the occasion and images of soldiers with carnations in their guns became the symbol of Portugal’s revolution.

Although the Carnation Revolution was peaceful and within hours brought an end to the oppressive regime  – at the same time opening the door for the independence of the African colonies – the transition to a stable democratic government was delayed until 1986, when Portugal entered the European Union.

In honour of the revolution, Lisbon’s ionic suspension bridge (a lookalike of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge) formerly known as the Ponto Salazar ( Salazar Bridge), was renamed Ponte 25 de Abril (April 25 Bridge).


Enjoy the week            Aproveite a semana                (pic Público/Ptnews)














 

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May5

The language in which the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner José Saramago wrote, the Cape Verdean Cesária Évora sang, the Brazilian Chico Barque used to sing and the Mozambican Mia Couto continues to write.

In 2019, UNESCO officially proclaimed May 5th as ‘World Portuguese Language Day. With more than 260 million speakers over five continents (200 million in Brazil only), Portuguese ranks fifth – after Chinese, English, Spanish, and Hindustani – among world languages in number of native speakers.


It is also the fifth most used language on the Internet and the fourth most used on Facebook.
Portuguese can still be heard on the streets in Goa (India), Malacca (Malaysia), and Macau (China) as a reminder of the Portuguese Discoveries in the 15th century.
Someone who speaks Portuguese is called a Lusophone.


Spoken by 3,7% of the world population, Portuguese is the official language of the nine member countries of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) – comprising Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé Príncipe and Timor East – an intergovernmental organization created in 1996.

Mainly due to the expected population growth in Africa, the United Nations estimates that in less than 30 years, the Portuguese language is to be spoken by some 400 million speakers worldwide. 


Originating from Latin – from which it involved into Galician-Portuguese – the language that would become Portuguese, began to be spoken in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula around the 6th century. From the 11th century onwards it expanded with the Christian reconquest to the South, at the same time influenced by Arabic from which many words derive. Especially the ones beginning with ‘al’ – like aldeia (village), alfândega (customs), or almofada (pillow).

The testament of the country’s third king Dom Afonso II – dated June 17, 1214 – is considered to be the oldest written text in Portuguese.
It marks the beginning of the period of ancient Portuguese that would last until the publication in 1572 of the first book in modern Portuguese, The Lusiads, Portugal’s national epic by Luis Camões.


Unlike English, Portuguese is binary, meaning that it only contains masculine and feminine gender in its words. Adjectives vary in gender, as do the articles that precede them.
The verb conjugation in Portuguese is usually classified as irregular, and for each person, a different verb conjugation is used.


The Portuguese of Brazil differs from that of Portugal. At the initiative of Brazil the last orthographic reform – aiming to unify the way of writing in all CPLP countries – was made mandatory in 2010, as the simplified spelling was still far from being applied everywhere, especially in Portugal.  



Enjoy your week                             Aproveite a semana               (pic Lusa)









 







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Flag


Historically, flags were used for identification in battles.
The oldest national flag is Denmark’s 13th-century flag with its white cross on a red background. The legend goes that it was sent from Heaven to help the army during the Battle of Lyndanisse in 1219.
It inspired the cross design of the other Scandinavian countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland.


Most national flags portray the country’s history, beliefs, and strengths. They are used to show unity and pride, clearly evident during a state visit or international sports events.
 

The color red represents struggle, courage, and bloodshed whereas green depicts prosperity, hope, and agriculture. White signifies peace, purity, and harmony while blue is for good fortune, determination and liberation. Orange stands for sacrifice, courage, and selflessness, and yellow for wealth and energy. 


Portugal’s flag (Bandeira de Portugal) has evolved since the Kingdom of Portugal was formed in 1139.
After the Republican revolution in 1910, the royal colors blue and white and the crown – symbols of the monarchy – had to be substituted.




The painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro – brother of the famous ceramist Rafael Bordalo – was tasked with the new design. He chose the colors of the Portuguese Republican Party, representing the hope of the nation (green) and the blood of those defending it (red).



The country’s coat of arms in the center remained as it had been present on most of Portugal’s preceding flags. The five blue emblems on the shield – displayed as a Christian cross – are a reminder of the five Moorish kings (from Seville, Badajoz, Elvas, Evora, and Beja) defeated by Portugal’s first king Afonso Henriques in the 1139 Battle of Ourique.



The five white coins within each emblem represent Christ’s five crucifixion wounds. The seven castles around the emblems symbolize the enemy fortresses  King Afonso captured during the conquest of Portugal’s most southern part – the Algarve – in 1249.  



The flag of the Netherlands is the oldest tricolor. As a state flag, it first appeared around 1572 in orange, white, and blue as used by Prince William of Orange but from 1630 the red-white-blue version became the national symbol. The Dutch tricolor has inspired many flags most notably those of Russia, New York City (New Amsterdam), and Slavic states such as Slovakia, Serbia, and Slovenia.



The best-known flag in the world today is probably the Ukrainian blue and yellow bicolor. The blue on top represents the sky and the yellow stripe stands for fertile land. It was officially adopted as a state flag after World War I by the Ukrainian People’s Republic, outlawed when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and restored in September 1991, following Ukrainian independence.
The Uranian flag, not only stands for national pride and sovereignty but also for international solidarity with its people.



Enjoy the week                                                          Aproveite a semana




















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Majority

‘Absolute majority doesn’t mean absolute power’ (António Costa)

Against all odds, Portugal’s centre-left Socialists won a straight parliamentary majority in last week’s general election, securing a strong new mandate for Prime Minister António Costa. It is for the first time the Socialists have won an absolute majority after six years in power. This means the country will have a stable government to oversee the application of the EU pandemic recovery package of 16.6 billion euros.


The striking victory didn’t remain unnoticed abroad as was highlighted in the international press headlines.

 ‘Socialists win surprise outright majority (Guardian)
‘Antonio Costa, the shrewd negotiator’ (El País)
‘Prime Minister with few obstacles and more longevity’ (El Mundo)
‘António Costa builds its legend’ (La Vanguardia)
‘The indestructible socialist, who united the left’ (El Español)
‘António Costa’s revenge’ (Le Monde)
‘Portugal promotes the Costa model’ (La Republica)
‘An overwhelming majority, animosity with Chega’ (Folha de São Paulo)
Portugal’s Socialists win an Outright Majority in Parliament (New York Times)
‘António Costa’s impressive victory’ (Politico)

The Socialist Party (PS) smashed its former far-left allies, the Left Bloc (BE) and the Communists (PCP) both losing more than half of their seats in parliament. The centre-right fared barely better. The second-largest Social-Democratic Party (PSD) gathered only 30% of the vote (against the Socialists’ around 42%).
The People and Nature party (PAN) lost three of its four MP’s and the Christian Democrats (CDS) lost all its five MP’s in parliament, including its leader. 


Despite the coronavirus pandemic, turnout was on track to beat 2019’s record low participation of 49%.


But the election results also showed a less pleasant surprise.
The far-right Chega (Enough) emerged as the third-largest parliamentary force, making a big leap from just one MP to 12 in the 230-seat parliament.



Costa – PM since 2015 – has won plaudits for turning around the country’s 2011-2014 debt crisis, reversing unpopular austerity measures, decreasing the budget deficit, and overseeing one of the most successful Covid vaccination programs in Europe. Still, Portugal remains western Europe’s poorest country. His biggest challenge will therefore be to promote economic growth.


The PM declared in his victory speech: ‘An absolute majority doesn’t mean absolute power. It doesn’t mean to govern alone but to govern with and for all Portuguese’.
But there is also a warning. The last time the Socialists had an absolute majority was with José Socrates in 2005 and that administration was marked by corruption and authoritarianism.



Enjoy your week    —      Tenha uma semana fixe        (pic Público/Sapo)







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Kapok tree

Cascais, Portugal

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Carnage

540 wild animals shot – a super record, the hunters said

Just before Christmas, on December 17, over 540 deer and wild boar were brutally slaughtered by 16 Spanish hunters in a walled estate in Azambuja to make way for a gigantic solar energy park with an investment of 170 million euros.

‘It was a massacre’ declared Silvino Lúcio, vice-president of the Azambuja town council. ‘This can’t be called a hunt. Those animals had no way of escape as they were confined within the property walls.’

The hunt was organized at the Quinta (walled estate) Torre Bela by the Spanish organisation Hunting Spain Portugal Monteros de la Cabra, that yearly organises hunts in Spain and Portugal.

A shocked minister of environment Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes immediately withdraw Torre Bela’s hunting licence, stating that the organizers, the owners and possibly the hunters who took part, will most probably be prosecuted by the Public Ministry.’

In a joint statement, various environmental organizations called on the minister not only to implement his decision to review the hunting law but to also solve the inexistence of proper inspection to prevent crimes against nature.


An outraged political party PAN – Party for Animals and Nature – wondered in despair, how it was possible that no official public entity had received any forewarning about the indiscriminate hunt in the ancient estate.

It is unclear whether the bloody incident will affect the installation of 650.000 solar panels at the estate, an area described by the local paper Valor Local in September as ‘forest and agricultural land equivalent to 775 football pitches.’

Pending the investigation by the Public Ministry, the government has instructed APA – the Portuguese environment agency – to immediately suspend its evaluation of the environmental impact study for the solar project and start a thorough investigation into the facts.

Some days after the culling hit the headlines, the owners of the estate issued a statement – through their spokesmen – that they had absolutely nothing to do with the hunt and had heard about the barbarity only through the media.

Journalists’ attempts to discover the identity of the owners have raised questions. There are rumours that the real owner is Isabel dos Santos – the former first daughter of Angola – now immersed in the Luanda Leaks scandal. In fact, nobody seems to know for sure. The only thing clear is that whoever owns Torre Bela prefers to stay anonymous.

Stay healthy                          Fique saudável             (pic Públic/EsqNet)








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Unsustainable

Portugal’s brittle healthcare system is under growing pressure due to an unprecedented rise in coronavirus infections as a result of a relaxation of the measures during Christmas.

Even after a stricter lockdown was put in place on the 15th of January, the number of new cases continued to rise to over 1000 per 100.000 inhabitants. Nearly double that in hard-hit Spain and three times as much as in the Netherlands. This week’s increase is even the biggest in the world!

The health system – which prior to the pandemic had the lowest number of critical care beds per 100.000 inhabitants in Europe – can accommodate a maximum number of 675 Covid patients in ICUs. Currently, more than 95% of the ICU beds are occupied and a further increase in the number of patients is expected over the coming weeks.

‘The impact in hospitals is huge because the number of beds doesn’t increase, the walls are not expandable and health workers are not multiplying’ declared Antonio Pais de Lacerda, a doctor at Lisbon’s biggest hospital Santa Maria.

It is predicted that as many people will die in the next two months as in the last ten and that daily case numbers will not drop before February. Media images of ambulances with patients queuing outside major hospitals in Lisbon waiting for beds, raise fears whether the National Health System (SNS) is on the verge of collapse.

At a recent Infarmed meeting – where government hears the opinion of experts – it was estimated that it will take at least two months for the country to return to pre-Christmas levels. The feeling also was that testing – currently around 47,000 tests a day with around 18% positive results – should be increased, especially in old people’s homes.

With a daily death toll reaching a record high of 218 – one death every seven minutes – and 10.455 new cases, the authorities desperately try to put a lid on the spread of infections. In a country just over 10 million already over 9000 people have died since the start of the pandemic.

In view of the unacceptable rise in the number of cases and deaths, Prime Minister António Costa issued – just 3 days after a stricter lockdown was put in place – even tougher restrictions, similar to the ones during the lockdown of March/April last year. Schools, however, will remain open, much to the dislike of the Ordem dos Médicos, that has called for an immediate closure to save lives.  

It will be clear that protection of the elderly has failed and that until a successful roll-out of the vaccination programme is in place, tension will prevail.

Stay healthy                          Fique saudável             (pic Público/Expresso)


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Mains

Traditional food is based on fish, seafood or pork with lots of olive oil.

Bacalhau is the undisputed National dish, especially on Christmas Eve when 4 to 5 thousand tons of Norwegian cod is devoured.
Cod became prominent during the Discovery Era because it could be stored for longer periods. You can see and smell the large hard chunks in shops, where a small saw is often used to cut the fish. Salted cod is primarily soaked for at least 24 hours in water before cooking, grilling, frying, or braising

Popular dishes are cod baked with cream (bacalhau com natas), stir-fried with shredded potato, eggs, and onions (bacalhau à brás) and cod with chicken peas (meia-desfeita).
Meia-desfeita (‘half-undone’) stems from the times when one used to order only half the dish.

Arroz de marisco consists of rice, monkfish, and seafood like prawns, mussels, squid, or clams and is usually seasoned with fresh herbs and white wine. Unlike the Spanish paella, it is not fried and often described as a thick rice stew.

Polvo à Lagareiro is made in the style of Lagareiro. In this case, the octopus is boiled, then cut into pieces, grilled, and brushed with extra virgin olive oil. The dish is dressed with a combination of garlic, coriander, lemon juice, and salt, served with small roasted potatoes with their skin intact and lots of olive oil.

Cataplana de marisco refers to a popular fish- or seafood dish sharing the same name as the clam-shaped copper pan in which it is prepared. The Moors introduced the dish which usually includes white fish, shellfish, red peppers, onions, and a bit of chili.


Alheira is a smoked sausage typically made with various types of meat, bread, garlic, olive oil, and paprika. It is believed to be invented during the Inquisition by Portuguese Jews. To disguise as Christians they started producing pork-like sausages but would replace the traditional pork with poultry and game.


Feijoada à portuguesa is a hearty bean stew originating in the north of the country before it was introduced in Brazil, where it is considered the National dish. It is made with red kidney or white beans and usually includes pork (ears, foot), morcela (blood sausage), or chouriço.

Iscas com elas are thin strips of cow’s liver, sautéed in wine and garlic. They’re served with boiled potatoes (referred to as elas – meaning them). The dish was brought to the country by the Galicians, who arrived in the 18th century to work in, and later own restaurants and cafés.


Cozido à portuguesa is a rustic stew for meat lovers. It usually consists of beef, pork, chicken, and smoked sausages, such as morcela, chouriço, or alheira. It might also contain other bits of animal-like pig’s ear or foot – and potatoes, cabbage, or carrots. All the ingredients are cooked together in a single pot with different items added at different times.



Boas Festas        Stay Healthy      (pic tasteatlas/roads&kingdoms/sapo)










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