New Statesman about the Anglo-Portuguese relation and much more.
The Lisbon lament: Britain’s oldest ally on the eve of Brexit
The Statesman’s historical feature about the Anglo-Portuguese relationship is much more than Brexit. Actually Brexit is only The Statesman’s Mathew Engel’s excuse for getting behind Portugal’s history, culture and traditions such as Fado, Port, saudade, Salazar, relation to Spain and other interesting and relevant issues for us non-Portuguese living here or returning travellers.
A very inspiring feature – and time consuming. I have spend hours googling historical events, people & conflicts.
Enjoy
Thomas
The port trade with Britain dates back to 1652. Yet the whole Portuguese wine business is like last week’s start-up when measured against the Anglo-Portuguese alliance.
Portugal has always needed to fend off Spain, which has generally been cosy with France. It is both a historical fluke and a product of the alliance that Portugal shook off the Castilian empire forever nearly 400 years ago, and Catalonia, for instance, did not.
We don’t sing to be drama queens... It’s not about being depressed... fado is not just for tourists, it’s a very important part of the culture.”
(Oddly, the Portuguese best known to the British, Cristiano Ronaldo and José Mourinho, are not reticent at all.)
“Salazar was not a Nazi. He didn’t like crowds. He didn’t like making speeches. And he lived like a monk. He was a very honest man in terms of material things. But he didn’t spend money on the country either”
... as more visitors come, more old corner shops get replaced by ice-cream parlours and more old ladies get evicted to make way for Air BnBs. Money is made and the place becomes a dead zone.
... suddenly, Nazaré, which dozed peacefully between brief summer seasons, has become an all-year resort. For better and worse. “We were just a small fishing village,” moaned one local to me who worked in the tourist office.
Far inland, something else is happening. The countryside is emptying as the young seek better opportunities in the city and abroad – a phenomenon that is happening across southern Europe. But there is a difference here. While cities are getting increasingly expensive, farms are cheap, and are being snapped up by alternative Northern Europeans who open yoga retreats.
I assumed yoga was used to signify a generic caricature, like muesli. It is much more specific than that. One website now lists 324 different yoga retreats in Portugal.
Far inland, something else is happening. The countryside is emptying as the young seek better opportunities in the city and abroad – a phenomenon that is happening across southern Europe. But there is a difference here. While cities are getting increasingly expensive, farms are cheap, and are being snapped up by alternative Northern Europeans who open yoga retreats.
I assumed yoga was used to signify a generic caricature, like muesli. It is much more specific than that. One website now lists 324 different yoga retreats in Portugal.
