Portuguese voters go to the polls in two days in an election that may produce a minority government.
Prime Minister Jose Socrates’s Socialist Party led the Social Democrats of former Finance Minister Manuela Ferreira Leite 40 percent to 31.6 percent, in a poll yesterday by Diario Economico.
Socrates, 52, has pledged to step up public-works in Portugal spending on such projects as a 7.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) high-speed rail network to revive economic growth and create jobs. Ferreira Leite, 68, says the Portuguese people can’t afford such spending and will focus on smaller projects, cutting the debt.
The next government will inherit an economy that the Bank of Portugal says will shrink 3.5 percent this year and that has failed to achieve annual growth of 2 percent since 2001. The government forecasts a budget gap of 5.9 percent of gross domestic product, almost twice the European Union limit. Joblessness reached a 22-year-high 9.1 percent and is climbing.
Socrates’s efforts to control public spending, including raising the retirement age for civil servants and changing labor laws, cost him support with workers, the party’s base. His policies triggered various protests, including one that drew 100,000 Portuguese teachers, and he faced the country’s first general strike since 2002.
Yesterday’s poll giving the Socialists 40 percent was the best showing for the party since the start of the campaign on Sept 14. In most prior polls, support for the Socialists peaked at about 38 percent and their lead over the Social Democrats was often within the margin of error.
Socialist voters have been defecting to the Communists and the 10-year-old Left Bloc, rather than the Social Democrats, polls indicate. In yesterday’s poll, the Left Bloc had 9 percent, while a Communist-led coalition and the People’s Party each drew 8.2 percent support. In the latest elections, the June 7 vote for the European Parliament, the Left Bloc and Communists took a combined 21.4 percent.
Without a majority, Socrates will be forced to scale back his ambitions.
Friday 25 September 2009
Thursday 17 September 2009
Portuguese Festa - in Hawaii??
Yep that's right - in Hawaii.
The Hawaii Council on Portuguese Heritage presents its 31st annual Portuguese Festa, featuring the music, costumes and crafts of the Portuguese in Hawaii — not to mention the food. Dine on mainstays such as Portuguese bean soup, malassadas, vinha d'alhos pork, codfish stew and Portuguese sausage hot dogs on sweet-bread buns.
According to some accounts, the first European to find the Hawaiian Islands may have been a sea captain from Portugal who was sailing under the flag of Spain, approximately 200 years before Captain Cook arrived. The first Portuguese contract laborers came to Hawaii from the Azores and the Madeira Islands many of them arrived between 1877 and 1884. By 1884 there were nearly 10,000 Portuguese workers in Hawaii and by the early 1900's there were more then 15,000.
The first Festa organized by the Hawaii Council on Portuguese Heritage took place in 1978.
The Hawaii Council on Portuguese Heritage presents its 31st annual Portuguese Festa, featuring the music, costumes and crafts of the Portuguese in Hawaii — not to mention the food. Dine on mainstays such as Portuguese bean soup, malassadas, vinha d'alhos pork, codfish stew and Portuguese sausage hot dogs on sweet-bread buns.
According to some accounts, the first European to find the Hawaiian Islands may have been a sea captain from Portugal who was sailing under the flag of Spain, approximately 200 years before Captain Cook arrived. The first Portuguese contract laborers came to Hawaii from the Azores and the Madeira Islands many of them arrived between 1877 and 1884. By 1884 there were nearly 10,000 Portuguese workers in Hawaii and by the early 1900's there were more then 15,000.
The first Festa organized by the Hawaii Council on Portuguese Heritage took place in 1978.
Thursday 10 September 2009
Portugal's Iron Lady declares war on public expenditure
The leader of the opposition Social Democrats (PSD) said on Thursday that Portugal's growing debt levels were unsustainable and promised an "enormous fight" on public spending if elected this month.
Manuela Ferreira Leite, a former finance minister for the Portuguese centre-right PSD, told a conference the key to boosting growth in western Europe's poorest country was to cut public spending and stimulate private sector investment.
Her speech laid out what are likely to become the main battle lines before the Sept. 27 general election between the ruling Socialists' pledge to launch huge infrastructure projects and the PSD's drive to cut spending.
"The country is extremely indebted, we are at a debt level that is unsustainable," she said. "That is why I support a Titanic fight against the infrastructure projects."
Ferreira Leite, who has been described as the "Iron Lady" of Portuguese politics, said cutting taxes in the short-term was not feasible because of the deep recession but promised to do everything possible to make that possible in the future.
Portugal's growth has lagged behind European partners in recent years and the economy is seen contracting 3.4 percent in 2009. Prime Minister Jose Socrates' Socialists edged ahead to 34.5 percent support in an opinion poll this week against the PSD's 28.9 percent backing.
The Socialists promise that large infrastructure projects, including a high-speed TGV rail-link to Spain and a new airport for Lisbon, are key to hauling the Portuguese economy out of its worst recession in decades due to the global economic crisis.
While Ferreira Leite's promises of deep spending cuts in Portugal's bloated public sector is unpopular with civil servants, her focus on debt rings true with many Portuguese who remember that their country was the first to breach EU budget deficit rules after the introduction of the euro.
Manuela Ferreira Leite, a former finance minister for the Portuguese centre-right PSD, told a conference the key to boosting growth in western Europe's poorest country was to cut public spending and stimulate private sector investment.
Her speech laid out what are likely to become the main battle lines before the Sept. 27 general election between the ruling Socialists' pledge to launch huge infrastructure projects and the PSD's drive to cut spending.
"The country is extremely indebted, we are at a debt level that is unsustainable," she said. "That is why I support a Titanic fight against the infrastructure projects."
Ferreira Leite, who has been described as the "Iron Lady" of Portuguese politics, said cutting taxes in the short-term was not feasible because of the deep recession but promised to do everything possible to make that possible in the future.
Portugal's growth has lagged behind European partners in recent years and the economy is seen contracting 3.4 percent in 2009. Prime Minister Jose Socrates' Socialists edged ahead to 34.5 percent support in an opinion poll this week against the PSD's 28.9 percent backing.
The Socialists promise that large infrastructure projects, including a high-speed TGV rail-link to Spain and a new airport for Lisbon, are key to hauling the Portuguese economy out of its worst recession in decades due to the global economic crisis.
While Ferreira Leite's promises of deep spending cuts in Portugal's bloated public sector is unpopular with civil servants, her focus on debt rings true with many Portuguese who remember that their country was the first to breach EU budget deficit rules after the introduction of the euro.
Monday 7 September 2009
Portuguese festival of culture
LUDLOW, Mass. - Once a year Ludlow becomes a mecca for thousands of Portugese-Americans from all over New England.
Sunday was the day of the Our Lady of Fatima Festa on the grounds of Ludlow's Our Lady of Fatima Church. Hundreds of visitors come every year to enjoy Portuguese food, music, and the opportunity to worship during their candlelight procession after dark.
Visitors who come from as far away as Providence, will take part in the candlelight procession through the streets of Ludlow, a centuries old tradition that has been practiced by Lady of Fatima church in for more than 60 years as part of the celebration of portuguese culture, language and traditions.
Sunday was the day of the Our Lady of Fatima Festa on the grounds of Ludlow's Our Lady of Fatima Church. Hundreds of visitors come every year to enjoy Portuguese food, music, and the opportunity to worship during their candlelight procession after dark.
Visitors who come from as far away as Providence, will take part in the candlelight procession through the streets of Ludlow, a centuries old tradition that has been practiced by Lady of Fatima church in for more than 60 years as part of the celebration of portuguese culture, language and traditions.
Thursday 27 August 2009
Porto wins Portuguese title
Porto captain Bruno Alves clinched the Portuguese league title for his team on Sunday, scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Nacional.
Alves scored in front of a capacity 50,000 crowd at the Stadium of the Dragon to bring his team its fourth straight title and its sixth in seven years. Porto has been champion of the Portuguese league 24 times.
Porto, which has also reached the Portuguese Cup final, lies six points ahead of Sporting with two games remaining. However, Porto has the better head-to-head results after a draw and a win. Coach Jesualdo Ferreira is the first Portuguese coach to capture three consecutive league titles.
"The team has been fantastic. The players worked very hard for some months when they were put under criticism. Everybody doubted their worth but in the end they all ended up recognising that this FC Porto is the best in recent years," Ferreira said.
Porto, which had beaten Nacional in their past seven league meetings, scored just after the break when Lisandro Lopez nodded back a corner and Alves headed home. After 28 games, Porto has 66 points, while Sporting has 60. Benfica is third on 53, four more than Nacional.
Alves scored in front of a capacity 50,000 crowd at the Stadium of the Dragon to bring his team its fourth straight title and its sixth in seven years. Porto has been champion of the Portuguese league 24 times.
Porto, which has also reached the Portuguese Cup final, lies six points ahead of Sporting with two games remaining. However, Porto has the better head-to-head results after a draw and a win. Coach Jesualdo Ferreira is the first Portuguese coach to capture three consecutive league titles.
"The team has been fantastic. The players worked very hard for some months when they were put under criticism. Everybody doubted their worth but in the end they all ended up recognising that this FC Porto is the best in recent years," Ferreira said.
Porto, which had beaten Nacional in their past seven league meetings, scored just after the break when Lisandro Lopez nodded back a corner and Alves headed home. After 28 games, Porto has 66 points, while Sporting has 60. Benfica is third on 53, four more than Nacional.
Thursday 13 August 2009
Attention Portuguese People: You're About to Get the Fastest Broadband in the World
Portuguese ISP Zon Multimedia will devlier one gigabit of bandwidth to broadband customers come September. One gigabit! So, if you want a truly fast internet connection in 2009, you're better off moving to the Portuguese Azores than, say, New York City.
This is painful for the vast majority of the world's online population, who live out their lives in a sub-10Mbps ghetto, but doubly so for South Korea, who seemed to have the claim to the first 1Gbps connection all locked up. If it's any consolation, nobody's even claiming they'll be able to hit 1Gbps here.
Of course, there will be disadvantages. 1Gbps connections surely won't come cheap, and seriously, beyond extremely well-seeded torrents, you're going to have trouble finding too many places that are willing to serve you content at over 128 megabytes per second. Go Portugal!
This is painful for the vast majority of the world's online population, who live out their lives in a sub-10Mbps ghetto, but doubly so for South Korea, who seemed to have the claim to the first 1Gbps connection all locked up. If it's any consolation, nobody's even claiming they'll be able to hit 1Gbps here.
Of course, there will be disadvantages. 1Gbps connections surely won't come cheap, and seriously, beyond extremely well-seeded torrents, you're going to have trouble finding too many places that are willing to serve you content at over 128 megabytes per second. Go Portugal!
Friday 7 August 2009
Portugal well covered for Internet, but few use it
Portuguese citizens are amongst the European populations that least use the Internet despite the country being one of the best equipped and offers connectivity that is above the European average, an EC study revealed this week.
The 2009 report on digital competition that was commissioned by the European Committee showed that the European digital sector had made “strong progress” since 2005, with 56 percent of Europeans regularly using the Internet in 2008.
In Portugal, however, only 38 percent of the population regularly uses the Internet (at least once a week) which places the country 22nd out of 27 State Members. At the same time only 29 percent of Portuguese use the Internet every day, in comparison to the 43 percent European average.
The report shows that “Portugal is one of the countries with the lowest amount of regular and frequent Internet users and has a high percentage of the population that has never used the Internet (54 percent)”.
It concluded that despite these figures high-speed Internet is easily available to 95 percent of the population, which is above the European average of 92.7 percent and therefore places Portugal 12th out of 27 EU countries in terms of Internet accessibility.
Therefore the EC has concluded that Portugal holds a “relatively strong position” within the society of information and commercial applications (e-business and e-commerce) and is one of the EU’s countries that lead the way in terms of possibilities that the population is offered regarding dialogue with public administration (e-government).
Out of the various age groups European youngsters, aged between 16 and 24, are the most active Internet users; 73 percent regularly use the services to create and share information on-line.
The 2009 report on digital competition that was commissioned by the European Committee showed that the European digital sector had made “strong progress” since 2005, with 56 percent of Europeans regularly using the Internet in 2008.
In Portugal, however, only 38 percent of the population regularly uses the Internet (at least once a week) which places the country 22nd out of 27 State Members. At the same time only 29 percent of Portuguese use the Internet every day, in comparison to the 43 percent European average.
The report shows that “Portugal is one of the countries with the lowest amount of regular and frequent Internet users and has a high percentage of the population that has never used the Internet (54 percent)”.
It concluded that despite these figures high-speed Internet is easily available to 95 percent of the population, which is above the European average of 92.7 percent and therefore places Portugal 12th out of 27 EU countries in terms of Internet accessibility.
Therefore the EC has concluded that Portugal holds a “relatively strong position” within the society of information and commercial applications (e-business and e-commerce) and is one of the EU’s countries that lead the way in terms of possibilities that the population is offered regarding dialogue with public administration (e-government).
Out of the various age groups European youngsters, aged between 16 and 24, are the most active Internet users; 73 percent regularly use the services to create and share information on-line.
Monday 27 July 2009
Portuguese bull runs becoming an Ontario fixture
It is not easy to understand why a full-grown man would climb into a ring, look a bull in the eye and dare it to charge him. But stranger things have been done in the name of "tradition."
At a ranch near Arthur, Ont., north of Fergus, as a Portuguese singer stomps about an outdoor arena, a series of bulls stumble out of red wooden crates to be taunted by some brave, and arguably foolish, men.
An audience jeers and cheers from the bleachers of the 213-metre-long ring, which is decorated with facades to mimic a Portuguese street. English is rarely heard.
"Bullfights belong to the story of the island," says Joe da Silva, a Portuguese-Canadian with a deep voice, referring to the tiny Portuguese landfall of Terceira – part of the Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic – where most of the spectator families have roots.
"This is the most strong tradition from back home. And the way we are doing things here, we are following 99.9 per cent."
In a remarkable feat of cultural perseverance – and victory over animal rights activists and reluctant politicians – bull runs have thrived in Southern Ontario for the last 20 years, staged at rural sites close enough to Mississauga, Brampton and Toronto to draw a crowd of Portuguese-Canadian families aching for home.
At a ranch near Arthur, Ont., north of Fergus, as a Portuguese singer stomps about an outdoor arena, a series of bulls stumble out of red wooden crates to be taunted by some brave, and arguably foolish, men.
An audience jeers and cheers from the bleachers of the 213-metre-long ring, which is decorated with facades to mimic a Portuguese street. English is rarely heard.
"Bullfights belong to the story of the island," says Joe da Silva, a Portuguese-Canadian with a deep voice, referring to the tiny Portuguese landfall of Terceira – part of the Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic – where most of the spectator families have roots.
"This is the most strong tradition from back home. And the way we are doing things here, we are following 99.9 per cent."
In a remarkable feat of cultural perseverance – and victory over animal rights activists and reluctant politicians – bull runs have thrived in Southern Ontario for the last 20 years, staged at rural sites close enough to Mississauga, Brampton and Toronto to draw a crowd of Portuguese-Canadian families aching for home.
Friday 17 July 2009
History of the Portuguese Language
Portuguese is one of the major languages of the world (the sixth most spoken language worldwide), spoken by about 200 million people on four continents. It belongs to a group of languages called “Romance” or “Neo-Latin” that evolved from Latin, the language of Latium in Ancient Italy, or more specifically, the city of Rome.
After the Roman invasion, Latin gradually became established in the Iberian peninsula and finally replaced the native languages. When the country of Portugal was founded, it adopted its own particular Romance, which was essentially Portuguese, as the national language. Further to the north, the region of Galicia (Spain) where the same Romance was spoken, remained politically subjugated to the kingdom of Leon and Castile, and even today Galician remains a regional dialect, under the official hegemony of Spanish.
There was always great regional variation in Latin vocabulary, depending on each region’s position with respect to Rome. The Iberian provinces were somewhat on the sidelines, and did not receive many of the lexical changes that were constantly created in Rome by the urban masses’ need for expression. Portuguese and Spanish maintain, for example, the traditional Latin verb comedere (comer in both Portuguese and Spanish), meaning “to eat”, while Italy and France adopted the new term manducare, which became mangiare and manger.
Another example is the Latin word for “cheese” (caseus), from which developed the Portuguese queijo and Spanish queso. In France and Italy however, caseus was replaced by formaticus, derived from forma, which was connected with a new process of making cheese. From this term evolved the French fromage, and Italian fromaggio. Factors like these explain why Portuguese and Castilian (Spanish) are the most similar of all the Romance languages.
The other groups that settled in what is now Portugal over the centuries had little effect on the language, although there is still a small number of words that go back to Celtic times (such as ontem, meaning “yesterday” which has the same origin as the Scottish Gaelic an d, and esquecer, meaning “to forget”), a few words of Germanic origin (such as roubar, meaning “to steal,” and guerrear, meaning “to wage war”), and about five hundred words introduced in Moorish times, especially those starting with the “al” prefix, such as almofada (”pillow”).
During the Age of Discovery, when Portugal established an overseas empire, the Portuguese language was heard in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Under regional influences, it absorbed a small number of words like jangada (”raft”) of Malay origin, and chá (”tea”), of Chinese origin. The Portuguese discoveries also had the opposite effect, and there are numerous Portuguese words in other languages. Some believe for example, that the word for “thank you” in Japanese (”arigato”), comes from the Portuguese obrigado.
Other languages that have influenced Portuguese include French, due to the infiltration of French manners and customs in Portugal during the tenth and eleventh centuries, when Frenchmen went to Portugal as pilgrims, courtiers, statesmen, scholars, and soldiers of fortune to help fight the Moors. There were also influences of Provençal, a language from the south of France, with words such as rua (”street”), similar to the French rue.
In Lisbon, Porto, most of Algarve, and other main tourist destinations, English is spoken fairly widely. Still, learning just a few simple Portuguese words certainly enhances a visit to Portugal. The Portuguese are proud of their language and do not take kindly to being addressed in Spanish, so visitors should take a little time to become familiar with some basic Portuguese vocabulary.
After the Roman invasion, Latin gradually became established in the Iberian peninsula and finally replaced the native languages. When the country of Portugal was founded, it adopted its own particular Romance, which was essentially Portuguese, as the national language. Further to the north, the region of Galicia (Spain) where the same Romance was spoken, remained politically subjugated to the kingdom of Leon and Castile, and even today Galician remains a regional dialect, under the official hegemony of Spanish.
There was always great regional variation in Latin vocabulary, depending on each region’s position with respect to Rome. The Iberian provinces were somewhat on the sidelines, and did not receive many of the lexical changes that were constantly created in Rome by the urban masses’ need for expression. Portuguese and Spanish maintain, for example, the traditional Latin verb comedere (comer in both Portuguese and Spanish), meaning “to eat”, while Italy and France adopted the new term manducare, which became mangiare and manger.
Another example is the Latin word for “cheese” (caseus), from which developed the Portuguese queijo and Spanish queso. In France and Italy however, caseus was replaced by formaticus, derived from forma, which was connected with a new process of making cheese. From this term evolved the French fromage, and Italian fromaggio. Factors like these explain why Portuguese and Castilian (Spanish) are the most similar of all the Romance languages.
The other groups that settled in what is now Portugal over the centuries had little effect on the language, although there is still a small number of words that go back to Celtic times (such as ontem, meaning “yesterday” which has the same origin as the Scottish Gaelic an d, and esquecer, meaning “to forget”), a few words of Germanic origin (such as roubar, meaning “to steal,” and guerrear, meaning “to wage war”), and about five hundred words introduced in Moorish times, especially those starting with the “al” prefix, such as almofada (”pillow”).
During the Age of Discovery, when Portugal established an overseas empire, the Portuguese language was heard in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Under regional influences, it absorbed a small number of words like jangada (”raft”) of Malay origin, and chá (”tea”), of Chinese origin. The Portuguese discoveries also had the opposite effect, and there are numerous Portuguese words in other languages. Some believe for example, that the word for “thank you” in Japanese (”arigato”), comes from the Portuguese obrigado.
Other languages that have influenced Portuguese include French, due to the infiltration of French manners and customs in Portugal during the tenth and eleventh centuries, when Frenchmen went to Portugal as pilgrims, courtiers, statesmen, scholars, and soldiers of fortune to help fight the Moors. There were also influences of Provençal, a language from the south of France, with words such as rua (”street”), similar to the French rue.
In Lisbon, Porto, most of Algarve, and other main tourist destinations, English is spoken fairly widely. Still, learning just a few simple Portuguese words certainly enhances a visit to Portugal. The Portuguese are proud of their language and do not take kindly to being addressed in Spanish, so visitors should take a little time to become familiar with some basic Portuguese vocabulary.
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Origins of Port
Port is a Portuguese fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. Port takes its name from the city of Oporto that is situated at the mouth of the 560-mile long Rio Douro or River of Gold. There is strict usage of the terms Port or Porto which refers only to wines produced in Portugal.
Until the 17th century, French wines were infinitely more popular in Britain than wines from Portugal. However the relationship between France and Britain was quickly deteriorating and as a consequence the British government decided to impose an import tax on French wine. In 1703 the British and Portuguese signed the Methuen Treaty which guaranteed Portugal would buy English cloth in exchange for wine exports. This sealed the relationship between the two countries and wine production in Portugal expanded rapidly.
Until the 17th century, French wines were infinitely more popular in Britain than wines from Portugal. However the relationship between France and Britain was quickly deteriorating and as a consequence the British government decided to impose an import tax on French wine. In 1703 the British and Portuguese signed the Methuen Treaty which guaranteed Portugal would buy English cloth in exchange for wine exports. This sealed the relationship between the two countries and wine production in Portugal expanded rapidly.
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