Portugal at odds with its oldest ally, remaining firmly pro-EU

Democracy inevitably involves different opinions and often heated debate, but the nature of political diversity is much less toxic in Portugal than in many other European states, particularly the United Kingdom, Portugal’s “oldest ally”.

Portugal is one of the EU’s smaller and also one of its most loyal member states.  Polls show that a significant majority of the population are happy to be within the EU, despite the harsh austerity and bailout obligations imposed on them by Brussels during the financial crisis.   

Following decades of dictatorship, both mainstream political parties have been strong advocates of European unity since joining the EU in 1986.

The delegation of 21 officials heading for Strasbourg and Brussels to serve between now and 2024 will comprise nine Socialists, six from the centre-right PSD, two each from the EB Left Bloc and the Communist party pcv7pev (CDU Alliance), and one each from the conservative CDS-PP and, for the first time, the People-Animals-Nature party, PAN.

When the leader of the Socialists, António Costa, became prime minister with a minority government in November 2015, he was dependent on the backing of the Left Bloc and the anti-EU Communists. Few pundits expected this loose alliance to last long. Yet the clear Socialist victory in the latest EU election was the first time a sitting government in Portugal won an EU election in 20 years.

The popularity of the Socialists has been spurred on by recent improvements in social services, education and transport facilities, and a great reduction in unemployment and poverty rates.

Their main rivals since the revolution, the centre-right Social Democrats, came second in the May EU vote but with a reduced percentage and the loss of two seats in the EU assembly.

The new Portuguese delegates will now separate into groupings with their closest political partners from the other 27 states for the start of the new session in Strasbourg on 2 July.  

The huge surge predicted from the far-right did not happen. In Portugal the far-right barely exists at all, but the populist movement across the continent, especially in France – never mind the UK – is still looming and poses a threat to EU stability.

Conversely, there were surprising gains from Liberal and Green parties in the latest EU election, most significantly in France and Germany.  

The upshot of all this is that the new 751-member European Parliament, of which Portugal is a small but staunch member, will be more diverse.

Let's hope that it will be able to act in a much more positive manner in the absence of the UK, which is hell-bent on leaving the EU at the end of October.  

In addition to many convoluted issues involving economics and immigration, the 2019-2023 EU parliament as a whole is expected to focus on reform, with greater emphasis on curbing such dire ongoing problems as global warming, social inequality and corruption.

Portugal’s mix of delegates can be expected to enthusiastically support such action, teaming up with the two mainstream EU groups who lost many seats in the election and no longer hold controlling power due to the surge in support for various independent and Green parties, as well as less dramatic showing by the far-right populists.   

Although the overall outcome of the election is expected to make EU parliamentary dialogue more complex, there is nevertheless optimism that the new configuration will promote positive reforms, including more action on social inequality, climate change and environmental issues.

Between now and the next EU parliamentary election in 2024, the people of Portugal and the many citizens from other European countries who live here can look forward to a degree of unity and confidence unlikely to exist in Italy and France, and certainly in the United Kingdom.   

Insights into Adventure, Mystery and Intriguing Personalities throughout the History of the Algarve

The revised and updated third edition of People in a Place Apart is now available in both digital and print form from amazon.co.uk.

The paperback edition can be bought locally in the bookshop in the main plaza of the Vale do Lobo resort. Other bookshops in the Algarve are expected to stock it soon.

More information can be obtained from the Faro-based publisher, Sílabas & Desafios.

Cannabis business boom expected

A series of recent events indicate that Portugal is on its way to becoming a major producer and exporter of cannabis for medical purposes.

Holigen, a Portuguese company, has joined forces with a Canadian firm and when fully operational next year it could be one of the largest legal cannabis cultivation facilities in the world.

On its 72-hectare site in the Alentejo region north of the Algarve, Holigen will be able to initially produce about 500,000 kilograms of cannabis per year. According to estimates, the annual figure could rise to more than 630,000 kilograms.

Holigen is said to have invested  €40 million in the project and sold a 19.8% stake to the Canadian firm Flowr for a cash payment of nearly €4 million.

“We believe this is a transformative transaction that establishes Flowr as a global player in the cannabis industry,” said Vinay Tolia, co-chief executive of The Flowr Corporation. “We’re using our financial strength and industry-leading cultivation expertise to gain exposure to the rapidly expanding European and Australian markets through Holigen.”

Aurora  Cannabis Inc., based in Edmonton, Alberta, has signed an agreement to acquire a 51% ownership stake in Gaia Pharma, a Portuguese-based company, with plans to develop a local facility to produce medical cannabis and derivative products. 

The Canadian firm said it had advanced its strategy “to attain early mover advantage in countries with nascent medical marijuana markets.

One of Portugal’s major attractions for such foreign companies is that it has ideal climatic and local cultivation conditions.       

Portugal pioneered the decriminalisation of cannabis possession in 2001, but it later fell behind internationally in legalising cannabis for medical purposes. 

Then in 2018, the Portuguese Parliament passed new legislation governing the cultivation, extraction, commercial preparation, local distribution, import and export, transit and sale of cannabis.

The regulations were endorsed not only by the ruling Socialist and left-wing alliance, but by the right-of-centre Social Democrats, the largest single party in parliament. The move was strongly prompted and welcomed by Portugal’s leading association of medical doctors, but cannabis is still not available as a prescription medication in local pharmacies.

Some research pharmacists are opposed to it in the belief that there is no solid scientific evidence to prove the efficacy and safety of cannabis use. Similar uncertainty exists in various circles in other countries and will remain so pending a more thorough analysis of the benefits and risks.

At the centre of attention in all this is cannabidiol, or CBD, an active ingredient of cannabis, with little or no psychotropic effects. In other words, it doesn’t give you a “high”.

Some 800 CBD products are said to be already available on the market globally. While still a controversial substance, carefully regulated cannabis is now widely accepted as useful in dealing with such conditions as insomnia, anxiety, depression, nausea, arthritis and chronic pain.

It’s also being prescribed to combat post-traumatic stress disorder, alleviate side effects from cancer therapy, and help with other serious ailments including Parkinson’s disease.

While the pros and cons debate continues and entities such as the European Union and the United Nations remain cautious, the legal cannabis business is starting to boom.

Hundreds of millions of euros and dollars worth of cannabis are being legally produced in Europe, Canada and many American states.

If all states in America legalise medical cannabis, there is expected to be a $40 billion industry by 2025. On top of this, an increasing number of states and nations are legalising the recreational use of cannabis.

The so-called “war on drugs” that has been going on for decades has clearly failed.

Drug trafficking and the illicit sale of marijuana, as well as stronger addictive substances such as cocaine and heroin, remain plentiful and easily available. According to the United Nations, 158.8 million people around the world use marijuana — more than 3.8% of the planet’s population.

More than 94 million people in the US have admitted using it at least once. A survey estimated that domestic marijuana production in the US increased tenfold over twenty-five years, from 1,000 metric tons in 1981 to 10,000 metric tons in 2006. Nearly 60% of those aged between 12 and 17 said that pot was easy to obtain.

Even in a relatively small country like Switzerland, an estimated 200,000 people are using the drug illegally. Last week the government said it was considering allowing up to 5,000 people to smoke marijuana in pilot studies that could lead to dropping the strict limitations on recreational use.

While the illegal drug trade has reaped vast profits over the years for gangsters and outpaced the agencies trying to control it, the current medical cultivation and distribution initiatives are attracting major investors because the way forward in a different direction means continued big business.

Britain is leaving, English is staying

One thing for sure amid the mass of political, economic and social unknowns as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union is that its language is staying.

This is ironic, as the current chaos in Britain could have been avoided had the whole question of Brexit been explained and debated before and since the 2016 referendum – in plain, honest English. 

English is by far the most spoken language across the continent of Europe. Much more than French or German, it’s the lingua franca used by the highest institutions within the European Union.

This is expected to continue long after Brexit, even though English will remain the predominant official language in only one of the EU’s 27 member states – Ireland.

English is the most widely spoken language in the world as so many people in so many nations learn it as a second language. 

For example, all schoolchildren in Portugal, from primary and certainly secondary age, are taught English.

At least 28 per cent of Portuguese citizens speak English reasonably fluently, and with an accent more easily understood than that in some regions of the UK.

Fewer Spaniards speak English but far more northern Europeans have a good command of English. It’s spoken by 90 per cent of Dutch people, 86 per cent of Danes and Swedes, and about 56 per cent  of Germans. 

Just as variations of English have evolved in North America, India, the Caribbean and elsewhere, Portuguese dialects have been firmly established in Brazil and parts of Africa.

As a national language, more people speak Chinese or Spanish than English, but with 360 million native speakers and almost twice as many second language speakers, English is the most prevalent language on the planet.

Portuguese is the third most spoken European language in the world. Globally, as a consequence of its former days as a colonial power, it’s the sixth after Arabic and Hindi. Only five percent of the 215 million Portuguese speakers actually live in Portugal.

Nowhere is language static. The spread of English has been encouraged by the enlargement of the European Union and the movement of working people westward from Eastern European countries.  

Euro-English has been developing in top EU circles since the mid-1980s.

It regularly appears in important EU documents, with spellings and word usages not found in standard English dictionaries.

For example, “expertises” and 'informations” are used in the plural form in line with other European languages.

“Planification” is commonly used in EU documents when referring to planning. “Comitology” is a noun referring to the work of committees.

A European Commission English Style Guide recommends other preferences in official documents, including some distinctly American spellings.

Even after Brexit, English-speakers should not be complacent, however. The working language of the European Court of Justice is French.

Portugal poised for post-Brexit

Unfettered by pride in its six centuries-old alliance with England under the Treaty of Windsor, Portugal is standing by its continental European partners in their response to the UK’s shambolic moves to leave the EU at the end of next month.

·      To read the full article, please go to the following Portugal Resident  link:

https://www.portugalresident.com/2019/02/04/portugal-poised-for-brexit/

Can Faro get its stolen books back?

Renewed efforts are being made to recover the unique collection of books plundered from Faro by a British military force more than 400 years ago and kept ever since at the University of Oxford.

The Faro 1540 Association is at the heart of a request for the return of what it regards as an historical, cultural and symbolic treasure.

The association is devoted to the defence and promotion  of Faro’s environmental and cultural heritage.

The collection it wants returned is believed to consist of 91 volumes. It was stolen from the library of the Bishop of Faro in 1596 when a military force, led by Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex, came ashore from a passing fleet and set the city ablaze.

The atrocity took place during the Anglo-Spanish War while Portugal was annexed and under Spanish rule.The books were taken from the library of Fernando Martins Mascarenhas, a highly-acclaimed Portuguese scholar and theologian, who resigned as Bishop of Faro to take up the post of Inquisitor General of Portugal.

Back in England, Devereux presented the books to his friend Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of Oxford University’s Bodleian Library. Faro books have remained in the Bodleian since its inauguration in 1602.

At its general assembly in December 2013, the Faro 1540 Association unanimously approved a motion requesting the return of the books.

The University of Oxford has shown no intention of giving up the collection. But it is now clear that the books are in good condition, securely stored and are catalogued online.

This has been confirmed to us by Sarah Wheale, head of the Bodleian’s Rare Books Department of Special Collections. “Readers can order any of the books themselves via our online ordering system and take photographs for their own research purposes”, she says. “If anyone wants to come and see any of our books there’s a simple same day process to obtain a readers card”. 

(https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/using/getting-a-reader-card).

The president of the Faro 1540 Association, Paulo Oliveira Botelho, an archaeologist and historian, says that in order to promote dialogue about the return of the books, the association has been in contact not only with the University of Oxford, but also with the British Embassy in Lisbon, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Culture, the Regional Delegation of Culture, deputies representing the Algarve in the Portuguese parliament, the bishop of the Algarve and the president of the Faro Municipality.

The committee of Faro 1540 has decided that this year, in which the association celebrates its 10th anniversary, it will “re-raise the flag to undertake all possible efforts to recover this important cultural heritage and make this dream a reality”.

Botelho added: “We intend to appeal to the highest authorities of the British government, with the support of the important British community who reside in the Algarve and elsewhere in Portugal, in the name of the Treaty of Windsor, one of the oldest alliances in the world signed in May 1386, which has united us for 633 years.

“It’s time to heal the open wound in our relations and to take a further step in the strengthening of Luso-British relations.”

The renewed interest in the Faro book collection follows the recent request by the indigenous people of Chile’s Easter Island for the return of a unique Moai statue removed 150 years ago and now kept in the British Museum in London.

The sculpture was removed from the island by Richard Powell, captain of HMS Topaze, in 1868 and given to Queen Victoria, who donated it to the museum in 1869.

Closer to home and as Britain prepares to leave the European Union, Greece has reinvigorated its demand for the return of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Marbles. Britain has long resisted campaigns for the return of what it calls the Elgin Marbles, along with treasures in the British Museum taken from other countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria  ─  often citing legislation that bans its museums from permanently disposing of any of their collections.

Earlier article on the Faro books:  http://algarvenewswatch.blogspot.com/search?q=Faro+book

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 

EU taking the lead on plastic waste

         To read this article, please click on to the following 

    Portugal Resident  link:

https://www.portugalresident.com/2019/02/04/portugal-poised-for-brexit/