the salty coast

os grandes portugueses

2007-01-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

The big thing of 2007 in Portugal, particularly on the TV channel RTP is the selection of the biggest Portuguese personality of all time of all things. They had a list of more than 100 people on their web site during December and now, in the past 2 days, they've revealed who are the 100 that were most voted on, and the 10 that received the most votes and that will be the 10 from which people will vote to be the top.

Here is the link to the 90 most voted - unfortunately, they don't have them in order:

http://www.rtp.pt/wportal/sites/tv/grandesportugueses/bio_resultados90.php

Here is a link to the top 10:

http://www.rtp.pt/wportal/sites/tv/grandesportugueses/finalistas.php

Now, this is all voted on on people's own opinions, and that's fine, but me, having lived there for a little while, listened to my family, and just my own personal knowledge of Portuguese culture, I have a few comments of my own....

1. How is it possible that a politician that ran a fascist government of which I have ever only heard negatives comments about (from people that lived through it) and from which we had a very famous 1974 revolution could be in the top 10? He kept you hungry and poor people! He had a secret police that would kill you if you spoke badly about his government! I really just don't understand...

2. How are Vitor Baia, Helio Pestana, and Pinto da Costa great Portuguese? One is a goalie, another a 2-bit actor and the third a guy that runs a soccer team. What exactly have they done that would make them great? Seriously people...forget what team you root for or how cute the actor may be - what exactly makes them GREAT? The same things that make me great, but we're talking about the 100 greatest Portuguese personalities. I can understand how Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and José Mourinho are there, but these three?

3. Whoever put Ricardo Araújo Pereira on the list is a genius. He shouldn't even be on there, but since they put on the potential list, someone should have a petition to put him in the finalists because he should win.

Regardless of who wins, people will complain. People, including myself, are complaining now and for that RTP already has a winning program on their hands because people are talking about it.

Being in Canada, I have only seen the first 50 at this point on RTPi, but the 100 are already known, so once I've seen the actual countdown for the last 50, I may be able to comment further...

a history lesson: sa carneiro

2006-12-02T23:30:00.000-05:00

The man known as Sá Carneiro (real name: Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro) was born July 19, 1934 and died December 4, 1980. He was Prime Minister of Portugal for 11 months in 1980.

Short history from Wikipedia:

A lawyer by training, he became a member of the puppet National Assembly, where he became one of the leaders of the "Liberal Wing", which attempted to work for the gradual transformation of António de Oliveira Salazar's dictatorship into a normal Western European democracy.

In May 1974, a month after the Carnation Revolution, Sá Carneiro founded the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), together with Francisco Pinto Balsemão and José Magalhães Mota, and became its secretary-general. The PPD was soon renamed the Social Democratic Party (PSD); despite Sá Carneiro's original claims to be leading a left-of-centre party, he and the party soon drifted to the right. He was minister without portfolio in a number of provisional governments, and was elected as a deputy to the Constitutional Assembly the next year.

In 1976, he was elected to the Assembly of the Republic. In November 1977, he resigned his office as president of the party, only to be reelected to that office the next year.
In the general election of late 1979, he led the Democratic Alliance, a coalition of his Social Democratic Party, the right-wing Democratic and Social Centre Party, and two smaller parties, to victory. The Alliance polled 45.2 percent of the popular vote and gained 128 of the 250 seats in the Assembly of the Republic; 75 of these were from the PSD. President António Ramalho Eanes subsequently called on him to form a government on 3 January 1980, and formed Portugal's first majority government since the Carnation Revolution of 1974. In a second general election held in October that year, the Democratic Alliance increased its majority. The Alliance received 47.2 percent of the popular vote and 134 seats, 82 of them from the PSD. Sá Carneiro's triumph appeared to augur well for the presidential election two months later, in which Sá Carneiro was supporting António Soares Carneiro (no relation).

His victory was short-lived, however. On 4 December 1980, en route to a presidential election rally in Oporto, his plane crashed into a building in Camarate soon after take-off from Lisbon Airport. Eyewitnesses said they saw pieces falling from the plane a moment after takeoff. Rumours have continued to fuel conspiracy theories that the crash was in fact an assassination, but no firm evidence has come to light.

Dependent to a considerable extent on Sá Carneiro's personal popularity, the Democratic Alliance was unable to maintain its momentum in the wake of his death. Faced with a national crisis, the public rallied around the incumbent President, António Ramalho Eanes, who easily defeated the Alliance candidate in the presidential election a few days later.

The airport of Oporto to which Sá Carneiro was heading, has been named after him: Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, despite objections that it would be in bad taste to name an airport after someone who died in a plane crash.

So, that's his history, now for exploring the conspiracy theory....which may not have been a theory at all?

Theory: Was Sa Carneiro killed to cover up White House arms deal? According to this theory, the plane Sa Carneiro was on was shot down to cover up deals between Iran and the US. Interesting stuff...Other source and more info here.

They have even made a film about this in Portuguese: Camarate: Acidente ou atentado?

Here is another blogger's posting about the incident (in Portuguese): here and here.

holidays, a vote, and a confession

2006-12-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

Christmas is always nice anywhere in the World. In Portugal, Santa is put to work driving the streetcar. Get going Santa!

In other important events, December 1st is an important date around the world, but not as important as in Portugal, where in 1640 we regained back Portugal from the Spanish. To mark this holiday, 2 of the biggest soccer teams faced off - Sporting vs. Benfica with Benfica coming out the winner.

Then today, Porto won...

..and that's about all the soccer news I can take.

In other important events around the country...

They've finally decided to hold another vote to decide whether abortion should be legal. Here are some women in parliament pushing their cause...

Source

Portugal's president has said the country's predominantly Roman Catholic population will vote on whether to legalise abortion on 11 February. Anibal Cavaco Silva said he agreed to the vote because the issue still dominated public debate in Portugal.

The country will be asked if they wish to approve the right to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks. Abortions are only legal in Portugal in cases of rape, foetal abnormality or if a woman's life is in danger.

In 1998, a slim majority voted in favour of relaxing the law but the result was ruled invalid because of a low turnout.
Let's hope that this is a turning point in Portugal and they legalize abortion.

In other, more amusing news:

A man drove into a subway tunnel in Porto, Portugal - We're always looking for shortcuts aren't we?

Pete Doherty (some famous British musician) has decided to rehab in Portugal - Are you sure that's the right thing to do? Some SuperBock will make you go right back into the dark side.

Portuguese say that everyone is late but me - That's right, we're always the first to point out other people's faults and not our own. Seriously though, I'm always on time!

And finally, the not so amusing, but rather interesting news:

Portuguese say 'no' to high speed trains and new airport - Excerpt:

A large majority of Portuguese oppose the construction of a new airport outside the capital and a high-speed rail line between Lisbon and Madrid, according to a poll published on Monday.

Nearly two-thirds – 65.5% – of respondents said that Portugal could do without the high-speed trains, and 56.3% thought that the airport was not needed, according to the survey, published in the Correio da Manha daily.

The Portuguese government has approved three new rail lines between Lisbon and Madrid, Lisbon and the northern city of Porto, as well as Porto and the northern Spanish city of Vigo.

Work on the rail lines, which will cost near 10bn euros ($13bn), is due to start in 2008. The Madrid-Lisbon line is scheduled for completion in 2013, and will be supported by European Union investment. The new Lisbon international airport – due to open in 2009 – has been designed to accommodate 25mn passengers per year, and will cost 3.1bn euros. The poll was carried out by the Aximage Institute and questioned 550 people by telephone
Why are they saying no again? Is it the potential of thousands of new jobs and people actually having to work? I know there are probably a lot of better things the governmennt needs to focus on, but people, these investments will equal more jobs, people wanting to invest in the country with better infrastructure and well, happy times all around!

Shady chapter of Portuguese history re-opened - Excerpt:

A shady and mysterious chapter of Portugal's history is being re-opened. A man has come forward saying he built a bomb that exploded on the plane of the former prime minister. Back in 1980, socialist leader Francisco Sa Carneiro, and six others were killed when their aircraft crashed in the suburbs of Lisbon.

Jose Esteves a former security agent who was working for the opposition centre-right party says he played a pivotal role in the alleged plot. He added that the prime minister was not the intended target. In this week's news magazine Focus in Portugal, Esteves also claims the bomb was never meant to go off. He says it was only ever supposed to scare General Soares Carneiro, but that a last minute switch of planes meant the premier and his entourage ended up on board.

A parliamentary inquiry last year concluded that a bomb was behind the crash. But the victims' family argue the deaths have never been properly investigated. They are now going to the European Court of Human Rights demanding Portugal be symbolically condemned for the way it handled the case.
This is interesting stuff! This is something I've got to read more about - actually everyone should. If I find anything more, I will post. Here the interesting tidbit though - this person, Sa Carneiro, died in a car crash...and they named Porto's airport after him. Yah, a classic Portuguese move! (Not so say that dumb stuff doesn't happen in other countries, but I always like it when stuff like this happens in Portugal....)

com uma força!

2006-11-05T10:51:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it. It's been almost 6 months and no posting. The previous was 2 months with no postings. One would wonder if my heart really is in this thing. Well, I promise it is. Timing is just not on my side, but I think I'm going to have a little more time to spend on this little fun blog of mine.

I am not doing a full post today, but am going to leave this fun little clip from You Tube featuring a very funny group of guys that go by Gato Fedorento. It's in Portuguese, unfortunately.

O Maior da Minha Aldeia

As Vindimas

welcome back

2006-05-13T13:36:00.000-04:00

Welcome back. I haven't been paying as much attention to this blog as I should, I know, but I promise to do better. It's just been a crazy couple of weeks. What can I say. So, without much further ado, let's get down to Portuguese business and find out what's going on in the luso world.

Benfica never made it to the finals of the UEFA Champions League:

Keep wishing, one day it'll happen. They also didn't win the championship. Neither did Sporting. Porto did:

Poor player, after winning the game, the fans actually ripped his clothes off and he had to be taken away by a bodyguard. What is wrong with the Mafia Azul?

At least choose someone with a decent body!

Scolari seems undecided, don't you think?

Portugal's Brazilian national soccer team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari gestures as he tells journalists he has no comments to make while leaving the Portuguese Football Federation office in Jamor, 10 km west of Lisbon, 27 April 2006. According to reports published in London 27 April 2006, Scolari is poised to take over from Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager of England

It looks like he changed his mind pretty quickly. I think it was after he saw the photos of the stripped Porto player. If Portuguese people do that to you if you win, imagine if you left their only hope for a possible World Cup win team in the cold a month before the tournament started to go for a rival team!

And this weekend, the people went to Fatima:

the hardship of going back home

2006-03-26T19:24:00.000-05:00

Let's start in Canada where illegal Portuguese immigrants are being sent back home. Here's an article from a Canadian television network CTV.ca.

This week a Portugese family, the Ferreiras, lost a battle they had fought since 1999 to stay in the country. They had been advised by an immigration consultant to apply for political refugee status, despite the fact Portugal has a good human rights record.

They were expected to board a plane Sunday to return to Portugal after exhausting all avenues with Immigration Canada.

Members of the Portugese community have complained that illegal immigrants working in the construction industry are being kicked out of the country at a higher rate than normal recently.

Solberg said there is no truth to those claims.

I do feel some pity for those people having to go back to Portugal, but why would you get suckered by some lawyer to claim refugee status? Portugal can be a scary place, but it doesn't persecute anyone, not is there any war (unless you think about being stuck in a bar in a Porto vs. Benfica game where there's fans from both sides in the bar and it's a tie game with 2 minutes to go). I do feel sad for those families, but doesn't it need to be said that they should have followed the rules like every other immigrant that is in Canada? (p.s. CTV ...It's spelt Portuguese, not Portugese...a simple spell checker would catch that)

Here's another article.

"Everybody has a life here," said Joao, a construction worker who came to
Canada for an Easter vacation seven years ago and stayed.

"It's so hard. You don't expect to leave right away."

Most families, who had established jobs, homes and cars, were given less than two weeks to sell their possessions and settle their lives here

I want to focus on a particular portion of the quote from the article: [...] a construction worker who came to Canada for an Easter vacation seven years ago and stayed. He stayed after coming for an Easter vacation? It may not be the time to judge these people, but they had been here seven years illegally? Two things we should ask ourselves - (1) Why hasn't immigration said anything earlier? and (2) Have they developed ulcers from worrying about whether they would be caught since they're here illegally?

It's great that you want to have a good life, and you shouldn't be denied that, but everyone had to go through immigration to stay legal. There shouldn't be exemptions to the rule. If I was in their position would I want special treatment? Sure, but does that mean I would get it? Probably not. Live and learn. Best of luck to all those families.

eurovision, fashion & slicked hair styles

2006-03-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

The Eurovision contest is coming up in May, and we should be really proud for our entry. Cheesy as ever, these girls are going to represent us with a ABBA-esque song, which, I've had the unfortunate opportunity to hear and sounds just like every other generic pop/dance song on the radio in Europe, so it's got a great chance to win!

What else has been going on in Portugal?

Lisbon Fashion Week took place, great event, great clothes.

Nuno Gomes manages to do some acrobatic work, but still doesn't win it against Naval, almost taking themselves out of contention to win this year's championships, but they did win against Liverpool, and are off to the quarterfinals against Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Porto and Sporting are fighting it out for first place in the championship. Go Sporting!

The Portuguese national team played a friendly with Saudi Arabia, where they won 3-0. I imagine that Cristiano Ronaldo's perfectly coifed hair must have had something to do with the win.

In other news, not requiring photos:

That's all that's fit to report,

Until next time, I am,

Uma Portuguesa

soccer & saints

2006-02-28T17:54:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened these last 10 days, and when it concerns Portugal, there's been a flurry of activity. There is lots to talk about, but I don't think I'll get to it all today, although most of it has been in sports, as usual.

Benfica, Benfica, Benfica

They started the week with a loss to Victoria de Guimaraes, and ended up with two wins at home - one with Liverpool and the other to Porto.

Lucia returns home to Fatima

The remains of the last of the shepherd children of Fatima were moved to Fatima last Sunday.

The new Portuguese uniforms

On February 13th, the new uniforms, still done by Nike were unveiled in Portugal. These will be worn by the national team in Germany in 2006. They actually look better.

And in other news...
Here is a recap of some of the most interesting stories of late:

Naming your kid in Portugal can be really complicated! - Honey, let‘s name junior UFO!

Let the planning begin - Scolari plots Portugal progress

...and let's party - it's Carnival!!

Until next time, I am...

Uma Portuguesa

danny silva, the portuguese olympian

2006-02-18T12:19:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing we're not without representation at the 2006 Winter Olympics. The sole athlete there from Portugal is Danny Silva.

Visit his web site here.

Competing in the 15 km cross country classical, Danny competed yesterday, and made a great showing. Out of 97 athletes, he placed 94th.

Be proud! Força Portugal.

faial & soccer

2006-02-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

A photo by Paul French for the Globe and Mail, He visited the Azores and wrote a great article about his visit there, and it makes me want to visit that part of Portugal even more.

I remember landing in Ponta Delgada one year when returning back to Canada, and the view of the ocean when landing was amazing. I had never landed in an airport like that, and the air and the view when getting on the plane to go back to Canada was amazing. It was probably one of the only instances where I actually liked to go through a particular airport. Paul French actually makes it sound much better - here's an example:

More recently, the Azores are being explored by visitors in search of clean and unspoiled vistas and the thrill of finding oneself in utter isolation, whether it's on a cliff high above the sea, trekking through fields of wild hydrangeas, swimming in warm tidal pools or standing on the edge of a volcanic crater.

We've celebrated the beauty that is Portugal, but now, we have to move on to, what sometimes is considered an uglier side of that country, the national soccer league. The 22nd "jornada" had the following matches:

V.Setubal - Sporting CP
Belenenses - FC Porto
Maritimo - V.Guimarães (will play on February 13th)
Académica - Boavista
SL Benfica - Penafiel
P.Ferreira - Gil Vicente
Nacional - U. Leiria
Rio Ave - Naval
SC Braga - E. Amadora

The current standings are as follows:

FC Porto - 48
Sporting CP - 43
SL Benfica - 43
SC Braga - 41
Nacional - 39
Boavista - 38
V.Setubal - 33
U. Leiria - 31
Maritimo - 27
E. Amadora - 27
Rio Ave - 26
Académica - 26
Belenenses - 25
P.Ferreira - 25
Gil Vicente - 24
Naval - 21
V.Guimarães - 17
Penafiel - 11

carnaval

2006-02-09T19:59:00.000-05:00

The best thing about February in Portugal is that Carnaval is soon around the corner. Normally, it's in the first couple of weeks, but this year it's on February 28th. I remember spending Carnaval in Portugal while I was young, but it was nothing like you see on TV, and in the photo. As cheesy as it was, we used to dress up to hide our true selves and roam around our little town trying to guess who the "enmascarado" was. It was the funnest thing ever!

Until next time, I am....

Uma Portuguesa

rich in portugal

2006-02-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

Being Portuguese means you will talk about Port wine as often as a Canadian says 'Eh?', which is why I love finding articles in foreign papers about it like this one at The Age.

I remember when I was younger living in Portugal going to the "quinta" my family owned and eating the grapes and watching people get ready to make the wine. The vineyard was in the Douro region, and it was beautiful. It really is a great tradition, and it's nice to see other non-Portuguese appreciating the tradition and what it all involves in making such a special wine.

A wine of depth, concentration and majestic structure, port is produced from grapes grown on the steep, rocky slopes of northern Portugal's Upper Douro and its tributaries and was discovered during the 17th century when two British traders added brandy to preserve the local wine for an Atlantic sea voyage.

The pioneers of the port trade soon found that "fortifying" did far more than just protect the wine, it actually improved it, giving it the power to mature into something unique, transformed in the cool, peaceful wine lodges that huddle in the tight streets of Vila Nova de Gaia, across the River Douro estuary from Porto.

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Meanwhile, over at Portugal's richest man's (at least according to Forbes) corporate headquarters, they're planning a corporate takeover. Belmiro de Azevedo (that's his photo on the left), owns Sonae SGPS and put a US$12.6 billion bid to buy Portugal Telecom.

It's the big buzz across the Atlantic with all kinds of talk about it. According to Reuters, the CEO of Portugal Telecom considered it a "hostile" bid and it could lead to the breakup of the company.

Lots to talk about for sure, here's a snippet of the article in Forbes:

Cited as audacious, the bid sent shares in the telecom giant soaring 22%, just over the offer price as investors wagered on a ounterbid from the likes of Spain's Telefonica or France Telecom according to AFX newswire. All this from a company a quarter the size of the country's main telecom giant, biggest cellular firm and main pay-TV broadcaster.

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As for the soccer, here are the latest standings:

FC Porto - 45
Sporting CP -40
Braga - 40
SL Benfica - 40
Nacional - 39
Boavista - 35
V.Setubal - 33
U. Leiria - 28
Maritimo - 27
Rio Ave - 26
Académica - 26
E. Amadora - 26
Belenenses - 25
Gil Vicente - 24
P.Ferreira - 22
Naval - 18
V.Guimarães - 17
Penafiel - 11

The next round of play in the Portuguese league takes place from February 11th to the 13th.

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The place where the winningticket was sold to the Portuguese winner of EUR$61 million:

Bill Gates visits Portugal, and makes all kinds of promises. I just hope they pan out:

I don't know why I enjoy this photo so much, but either because I think the joke is about the guy in track pants or it's the look on Paulo Bento's face:

Until next time, I am...

Uma Portuguesa

back to the portuguese business

2006-02-04T14:27:00.000-05:00

After taking a small break to reflect upon how much this blog means to me, I've decided to get back to the Portuguese business and this post will be shock full of tidbits for those wanting to know the latest and greatest reasons why I love to discuss that country.

First, off, some items making news of late...

Proving just how backwards that country sometimes is, a lesbian couple was denied a marriage license. (Pictured: Helena Paixão and Teresa Pires) Our Spanish neighbour appears to not have any problems with having an open-mind, even though the Roman Catholic church opposed the change. At least, the Portuguese have a saving grace - the Leftist Bloc is pushing for this in the government. What makes this such a hot topic is that the constitution says that sexual discrimination is not allowed, but they can discriminate when giving out marriage licenses? These 2 women have as much right to be married to each other as any other 2 people in the world. If they want to spend their life with each other, all the power to them.

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There's a very rich person in Portugal after yesterday's Euro Millions lottery draw. I wonder if I'm related.

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The golden arches have elected Portugal as its best in Europe. We love beer and burgers!

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Some consider the election of Cavaco Silva just another nail in the coffin of liberalism. I don't agree much with her point of view. A "see-it-through-the-eyes-of-a-conservative" read:

Not long before Canada's rightward swing, Portugal’s Anibal Cavaco Silva, a former conservative prime minister, won Portugal's presidential election, becoming the first conservative politician to be elected president in Portugal since 1974 when revolution ushered in democracy.

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Microsoft plans to save the day in Portugal. Good luck with that, although, it is a positive project:

The projects, as announced by Bill Gates and Prime Minister Jose Socrates,
will, according to Reuters:
The projects include technology training for students, workers and police,
aid in fighting cybercrime, apprenticeships, software development centres and
programmes aimed at Portuguese-speaking African nations.
This is part of a larger program Socrates calls a "technology shock",
designed to bring Portugal's economy in line with European Union growth.
As part of the programme, the government has launched English instruction in
primary schools and provided all schools to broadband Internet links.

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The golden boy is slowly, but surely falling from grace. Cristiano Ronaldo has been banned for one game for his obscene behaviour in a game against Benfica.
Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has been banned for one match by UEFA for a gesture towards Benfica fans in a Champions League match last month.

The 20-year-old Portugal winger made the one-fingered sign at the Estadio da Luz on Dec. 7 when United were eliminated from the competition after losing the Group D match 2-1.

Ronaldo played for Sporting, Benfica's rivals, before joining United in August 2003.

Because United have been eliminated from Europe this season, the ban will come into effect next season should United qualify for a European competition. They are second in the Premier League behind Chelsea.

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Lots to think about...don't you think? Don't forget, we still have soccer. The 21st round of the Portuguese tournament is in full swing.

U. Leiria vs. SL Benfica
FC Porto vs. Braga
Penafiel vs. Maritimo
E. Amadora vs. Rio Ave
V.Guimarães vs. Belenenses
Gil Vicente vs. V.Setubal
Sporting CP vs. Nacional
Académica vs. P.Ferreira
Boavista vs. Naval

Current standings:

FC Porto - 44
SL Benfica - 40
Nacional - 39
Braga - 39
Sporting CP - 37
Boavista - 35
V.Setubal - 33
Maritimo - 27
Académica - 26
U. Leiria - 25
Rio Ave - 25
E. Amadora - 25
Belenenses - 24
P.Ferreira - 22
Gil Vicente - 21
Naval - 18
V.Guimarães - 16
Penafiel - 8

If all else fails, watch this video:

a new president

2006-01-23T08:44:00.000-05:00

And, so, a new president has been elected: Cavaco Silva.

Here is a summary from the Globe and Mail:

LISBON -- Portugal's former centre-right prime minister Anibal Cavaco Silva, who has vowed to help revive a stagnant economy, narrowly won a presidential election yesterday in the first round, official results showed.

The Social Democrat-backed candidate captured 50.59 per cent of the vote in an election that featured five left-of-centre candidates, according to an official count of ballots cast in more than 99 per cent of polling stations.

Mr. Cavaco Silva, who oversaw a period of economic growth as prime minister between 1985 and 1995, is the first president elected outside the left since a 1974 military coup toppled a repressive right-wing dictatorship that ruled Portugal for nearly 50 years.

During the campaign he pledged that if elected, he would press Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates to go ahead with promised reforms intended to boost economic competitiveness.

"We have before us a demanding path," he told thousands of flag-waving supporters, some of them in tears, who gathered outside the riverside Lisbon cultural centre which hosted the candidate's victory party.

The presidency is a highly visible but largely ceremonial role. The head of state has no power to legislate but can dissolve parliament, veto laws, call general elections and appoint the prime minister based on vote results.

The president can also influence government policy by identifying priorities or expressing opinions about proposed initiatives.

If no candidate had captured more than 50 per cent of the vote, a runoff election between the top two contenders would have been held on Feb. 12.

Mr. Cavaco Silva's nearest rival was Socialist lawmaker and poet Manuel Alegre, who ran as an independent against the wishes of his party, which backed former Socialist prime minister and two-time president Mario Soares.

Mr. Alegre won 20.72 per cent of the vote while Mr. Soares, who steered Portugal from dictatorship to democracy, ended up in third place with 14.34 per cent.

An admirer of Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Mr. Cavaco Silva is credited with introducing free-market reforms as prime minister.

The reforms overlapped with the arrival of billions in aid from the European Union, which Portugal joined in 1986, helping to lift living standards.

He will be sworn in on March 9, taking over from Socialist President Jorge Sampaio, who is stepping down after serving two consecutive five-year terms, the maximum allowed under the constitution.

The Socialists won 45 per cent of votes cast -- and an outright majority in the 230-seat parliament -- in an early general election held last February.

But polls show Mr. Cavaco Silva's focus on the need for further reforms together with his reputation for economic competence had struck a chord with voters from both the left and right who are concerned about rising unemployment

and they're off

2006-01-22T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Presidential Race in Portugal (at least the first round) is soon coming to an end with people voting today.

Here's a great article (in English) on today's race:

There are five main candidates, and voting may go to a second round on 12 February if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.

Q: How does the Portuguese political system work?

The January 2006 elections mark the end of Jorge Sampaio's presidency. Mr Sampaio, a Socialist, served the maximum of two five-year terms. The president is elected by universal suffrage and a candidate requires a minimum of 7,500 signatures to register his candidacy. Political parties may support a candidate but not field a candidate. To be elected, candidates need to obtain more than half of the valid votes cast. A second round, to be contested by the two candidates with the most votes, may be necessary.

Q: What does the president do?

The president's basic role is to represent the country, guarantee national independence and the state's unity as well as the normal functioning of institutions. The president is also the supreme commander of the Portuguese armed forces.

The president can dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, appoint the prime minister, call referendums, declare a state of siege or state of emergency, declare war and peace, approve and veto bills and decrees, and ratify international treaties.

Q: What happens on election day?

The election campaign ends two days before polling. Polling stations open on Sunday from 0800 to 1900 (0800 GMT to 1900 GMT).

Portuguese residing abroad may cast their vote two days prior to polling day, as well as on polling day itself. Results and exit polls may only be published after 1900 on polling day.

Q: Who are the main candidates?

Anibal Cavaco Silva

Born 1939. Joined Social Democratic Party in 1974. Prime Minister from 1985 to 1995. Stood for president against Jorge Sampaio in 1996, and returned to his post as professor of economics after losing.

Francisco Louca

Born 1957. Member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party since 1979, which is now part of the Left Bloc, founded in 1999. MP for Lisbon since 1999. Has published several political and economic books.

Jeronimo de Sousa

Born 1947. Joined Portuguese Communist Party in 1974. Elected PCP secretary-general 2004.

Manuel Alegre

Born 1936. Joined Socialist Party in 1974. MP for Coimbra from 1974 to 2002 and for Lisbon since 2002. Deputy Speaker since 1995. He has won several literary prizes.

Mario Soares

Born 1924. Exiled during Salazar's regime. Founder of Socialist Party and its secretary-general from the outset in 1973. Foreign minister in 1974-75. Prime minister 1976-78 and 1983-85. President 1986-1996.

Q: What are the main campaign pledges?

The president has more of a figurehead role and as such voters are choosing a personality rather than policies. The candidates' pledges are loosely based on those of the political parties which support them.

Anibal Cavaco Silva is the only centre-right candidate. Manuel Alegre is ahead of Mario Soares as the main candidate of the left. The latter's support comes mostly from his extensive political career including his 10 years as president.

All candidates have made general pledges such as to uphold the constitution, be the president of all the Portuguese and promote good institutional relations to ensure the normal functioning of democracy.

Anibal Cavaco Silva promises to contribute to putting the country on the road to development as well as bringing confidence and credibility.

Manuel Alegre says he is standing without party support but as a man of the Left. He vows to fight for a more just and prosperous society and to revive Portugal's political life.

Mario Soares promises to help the country overcome its "complex and prolonged" crisis and bring back a sense of pride to the Portuguese.

Q: Who is likely to win?

The latest poll published on 20 January suggests Anibal Cavaco Silva will be a clear winner in the first round with 53%. The scores for the other candidates were:

Manuel Alegre 20.6%

Mario Soares 12.4%

Jeronimo de Sousa 6.9%

Francisco Louca 6.1%

If these figures are reproduced on Sunday, then Mr Cavaco Silva would win outright without the need for a second round.

a revolta dos pasteis de nata

2006-01-16T18:12:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, it's not in English. Fortunately, it's in Portuguese and it's funny. Watch & enjoy.

Carlinhos...o Machista Gay

Wanderley - A Brazilian in Portugal

These are definitely meant for those with a sense of humour. These short, hilarious videos are done by a team of comics that go by "A Revolta dos Pastéis de Nata", click on this link to view their home page.

if i lived in portugal, who would i vote for?

2006-01-14T07:02:00.000-05:00

I have to make a similar choice living in Canada come January 23rd, but one day prior, the Portuguese go to the polls to make a decision on who they want to be their next president.

I was too young when I left Portugal to vote for anyone, so I don't know the process. From what I've read, the President, is the head of state, and a position that has been in place since 1910. After the Carnation Revolution, the President was given a 5-year term. The current President's, Jorge Sampaio, has served 2 consecutive terms, which they can, but now a new President has to be elected. Follow this link to see a complete list of all previous Presidents of Portugal.

How is the President elected?

The President is elected, as in France, on a two-round system (if no candidate achieves 50% of the votes on the first round, the two most voted candidates face each other in a second round held three weeks later). However, only once, in 1986, was a second turn necessary. To date, all presidents since the Revolution served the two consecutive terms constitutionally allowed (a president who serves two terms can't be reelected before two presidential elections ellapse), and presidents consistently rank as the most popular political figure in the country.

(Source)

I was always told that the President, really, has no affect on the country, and as head of state is only there for PR purposes 99% of the time. He's the face of Portugal in and out of the country, but I wanted to double check what exactly the powers were.

I visited the official web site of the President. No help there, although, it appears to be in dire need of a redesign. The best description, I found, but only in Portuguese for which I did a quick translation:

1. O Presidente da República exerce as funções de Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas e nomeia e exonera, sob proposta do Governo, o Chefe do Estado-Maior General das Forças Armadas e os Chefes de Estado-Maior dos três ramos das Forças Armadas.
Translation: He heads up the Military & chooses who runs each of the three branches.

2. O Presidente da República pode dissolver a Assembleia da República, o que implica a necessidade de convocação de novas eleições parlamentares e após a realização destas, a demissão do Governo.
Translation: He can dissolve Parliament (which he did in 2004)

3. O Presidente da República nomeia o Primeiro Ministro tendo em conta os resultados eleitorais e nomeia os restantes membros do Governo sob proposta do Primeiro Ministro. Pode, por outro lado, demitir o Governo quando tal se torne necessário para assegurar o regular funcionamento das instituições democráticas.
Translation: Based on election results, he names the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet members per his/her suggestion.

4. Os órgãos de governo próprios das regiões autónomas podem ser dissolvidos pelo Presidente da República, por prática de actos graves contrários à Constituição
Translation: He can dissolve the current bodies of government and each autonomous region of Portugal.

5. O Presidente da República declara o estado de sítio e de emergência, ouvido o Governo e sob autorização da Assembleia da República.
Translation: He is the one to declare a state of emergency, upon approval by Parliament.

6. Sob proposta do Governo e mediante autorização da Assembleia da República, o Presidente da República pode declarar a guerra em caso de agressão efectiva ou iminente e fazer a paz.
Translation: Upon approval by Parliament, he can declare war/peace.

7. O Presidente da República promulga ou assina e, consequentemente, pode vetar a promulgação ou assinatura de leis, decretos-leis, decretos regulamentares e restantes decretos do Governo.
Translation: He's the final step in making/changing laws.

8. No domínio das suas competências nas relações internacionais, o Presidente da República ratifica os tratados internacionais.
Translation: He takes care of international treaties.

9. O Presidente da República decide sobre a convocação do referendo cuja realização lhe seja proposta pela Assembleia da República.
Translation: After a referendum, he with Parliament's suggestion, will call a referendum.

10. Presidente da República pode requerer ao Tribunal Constitucional a apreciação preventiva da constitucionalidade de normas constantes de convenções internacionais ou de decretos que lhe tenham sido enviados para promulgação como lei orgânica, lei ou decreto-lei
Translation: Upon there being new international laws, he asks the Supreme Court to evaluate them.

11. O Presidente da República nomeia e exonera, em alguns casos sob proposta do Governo, titulares de importantes órgãos do Estado como sejam os Ministros da República para as regiões autónomas, o Presidente do Tribunal de Contas e o Procurador Geral da República, cinco membros do Conselho de Estado e dois vogais do Conselho Superior da Magistratura
Translation: He names important personnel to certain areas of the government.

12. O Presidente da República nomeia os embaixadores e os enviados extraordinários, sob proposta do Governo, e acredita os representantes diplomáticos estrangeiros.
Translation: He names foreign diplomats and ambassadors.

13. O Presidente da República, ouvido o Governo, indulta e comuta penas.
Translation: After consulting with the government, he can give pardons and assign sentences.
Let's review the candidates (with a link to their official site)

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Former Prime Minister, supported by the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and by CDS/PP (People's Party).

Mário Alberto Soares
Supported by the PS (Socialist Party), and a former President (1986-1996)

Jéronimo Carvalho de Sousa
Supported by the PCP (Communist Party) and Os Verdes (Ecologist Party), and is the current Secretary-General of the Portuguese Communist Party.

Francisco Anacleto Louçã
Supported by the Bloco de Esquera (Leftist Bloc), and is the Coordinator of the political commision of the party.

António Garcia Pereira
The Secretary General of the PCTP-MRPP (Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers - Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat).

Manuel Alegre Duarte
Belongs to the PS (Socialist Party), but decided to run independently.

Now, who to vote for? I researched each candidate, and in keeping with political tradition, I have to say that choosing a president is a serious process, and I being a concerned citizen must take this decision to my assembly where I will discuss it until there is no more to discuss and then, will be the time that I will make my decision, but not before, I try not to make it for as much time as possible.

filha do mar

2006-01-05T21:10:00.000-05:00

Having RTP has made me feel like I was back in Portugal! The one show that I got hooked on in a couple of days was Filha do Mar, a Portuguese telenovela about Marta, who met her soulmate Salvador, was torn apart from him, but not before getting pregnant, had his child, someone told her he was dead, became a doctor and then, miracles of all miracles, was assigned to Ribatejo where.....Salvador, alive and well, living with his current wife Sofia and son, Tomas.

You can read about it here - it's in Portuguese, unfortunately. Here's its official site.

I would love to know how it ends....

the moretto incident

2006-01-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

For those who live in Canada, unless you have satelitte, getting RTP was not the easiest of things in the past, and most of the time, you'd have to endure old men in one of those cheesy tavernas downtown Toronto to be able to watch the soccer game.

Well, not anymore! Rogers (and I think other digital cable providers) has now made it available, and in the past 2 weeks it's been free of charge.

Besides getting hooked on the novela "Filha do Mar" (more on that later), I got hooked (mostly because I've spent a lot of time at my parents) watching the news. Earlier this week, while watching the news, one of the segments was about Benfica's acquisition of Moretto and the controversy relating to that.

First off, the slap heard around Portugal:

Source: SIC

Here's my version of the story - both Benfica and Porto wanted Moretto, but Benfica thought of it first, so Porto supposedly told this Vitor Dinis to go to Brazil, and get Moretto to sign for Porto, and he tried doing this by getting him to sign a letter saying he didn't want to sign for Benfica, even though no one from Benfica told him that they didn't want him on the team.

So, Benfica's President decides to fly to São Paulo to get his player, he gets there, gets pushed around by someone, who he assumes has been sent by this Dinis person, but still manages to get Moretto on his side. Then, for some apparent reason, both Dinis, Moretto and Benfica's president get on the same plane back from Brazil to Portugal. Benfica's prez whines about Dinis to some of his hench men, who wait for the guy coming out the flight, chase him down with some cameras, and slap him around. The above photo is that slap.

I wish I had made all that up, but it just makes me think how childish the game is. Or, at least, how smart those people behind the marketing of Benfica and Porto are in setting up the kind of incident that will make the fans of those clubs even more passionate about their teams, buy more merchandise, watch more games, visit the stadiums, buy tickets, and so on....it's all about the money people.

the end of 2005, the end of the news

2006-01-05T20:46:00.000-05:00

I was trying out to do a daily, or at least three times a week, the news of late about Portugal, but, it's not as exciting a post as I want it to be, so I won't be doing it as much anymore, plus, since I started this blog about a month ago, I think I should play around with a couple of different things. I will still be posting news, but maybe not as often as I did in the past month or so.

portugal in 2005

2005-12-31T15:57:00.000-05:00

What will I remember about 2005?

1. The MTV Europe Awards took place in Lisbon

2. Benfica won the championship in 2005.

3. Our national team qualified for the World Cup.

4. Fires, fires and more fires!

5. In March 2005, they elected a new Prime Minister, choosing the Socialist party to run the country with Jose Socrates as its leader.

That's all I can remember...you?

tosta mista

2005-12-31T15:48:00.000-05:00

One of today's posts is to celebrate a very important tradition when one goes to Portugal. This tradition is to have a tosta mista sometime during your stay. It would not be a good trip to Portugal without one of its famous tostas mistas.

Photo courtesy of Brigitte Boitel Bonfils (site). Her site has got some great photos of Portugal, so check it out!

popozão

2005-12-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

Funny thing happened while searching for the latest news stories. I bumped into this.

Yo. Kevin Federline's got a new hip-hop album droppin' in the '06. If you wanna taste of what'z to come, check out the firs' single, "PopoZao", a'ight?

Alright. So, it's been all over the Internet lately, and I myself wondered what the heck that frickin' word meant - I just figured he must have meant it to be paparazzi or something one of his kids blurted out to him, or maybe something he and Britney came up with while making out.

Then, I actually gasped when reading this:

And if you're wondering what "PopoZao" means, you're probably going to have to wait for an explanation from Mr. Spears himself because no one seems to know. However, I did do some quick researching and saw some speculation that "PopoZao" came from the Portuguese slang term for "big butt". Well... That sounds like something that he'd rap about, so I'm going with that explanation.

What.the.hell. This one is definitely a Brazilian Portuguese term - they always come up with the best slang terms for things. Although, why would he use it - does he have a big ass? Oh wait, is he talking about Britney? Please, Lord, help us all.

Update: I've actually heard the song. Note to Kevin, get yourself some Portuguese lessons. If you're going to use words in your song that are in another language, at least learn how to pronounce them, thanks.

dec 24-29: the news & images

2005-12-29T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I took a break! A nice, week long break from this blog of mine that has now become a hobby. Here are some of the news stories from the past week:

* A Portuguese Christmas miracle: 'Dead' man starts coughing
* Maniche move talks continue
* Secretary-General appoints Victor da Silva Angelo of Portugal as Executive Representative for UN Integrated Office for Sierra Leone
* Portugal Proposes 1.5% Public Sector Wage Hike For '06
* Dakar: Portugal start 'novelty' for raiders

Everyone was too busy enjoying the bacalhau to make news. Here are some of the images:

Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan visiting Portugal.

Manuel Alegre, considered to be 2nd or 3rd in people's opinion to be elected President.

He's all happy because he's getting paid more money than me. His name is Gustavo Manduca.

Dakar in Lisbon.

portuguese soccer: 16ª Jornada

2005-12-23T16:44:00.000-05:00

Here are the matches for this jornada taking place between December 20th and the 22nd:

Sporting CP 3 | 0 Rio Ave
P.Ferreira 1 | 2 Maritimo
U. Leiria 2 | 1 Naval
Académica 0 | 1 Belenenses
Gil Vicente 2 | 1 Braga
V.Setubal 0 | 1 SL Benfica
Boavista 0 | 3 Nacional
Penafiel 0 | 1 E. Amadora
V.Guimarães 0 | 2 FC Porto

As of today's game, here are the standings:

1. FC Porto - 37
2. Nacional - 33
3. SL Benfica - 31
4. Sporting CP - 30
5. V.Setubal - 29
6. Braga - 29
7. Boavista - 23
8 U. Leiria - 21
9 Maritimo - 21
10. P.Ferreira - 21
11. Rio Ave - 20
12. Belenenses - 20
13. E.Amadora - 19
14. Académica - 18
15. Gil Vicente - 17
16. V.Guimarães - 14
17. Naval - 11
18. Penafiel - 7