History

The opening of Portugal’s first passenger railway on October 28, 1856 was not auspicious. The line operated by a private company (Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses) stretched from Lisbon

It is now nearly 80 years ago that the most devastating windstorm recorded in Portugal hit the Iberian Peninsula. On February 15-16, 1941, strong winds, usually referred to as a

The new normal is for us all to wear a mask and, in the few times since March that I have ventured into this ‘new world’ for food shopping or

In common with many European towns in the medieval period, the people in Portuguese towns periodically suffered from attacks of various diseases. Cholera was a particular problem in the 19th

Last month I wrote about Aristides de Sousa Mendes who saved thousands of people fleeing the Nazi invasion of 1939 by issuing them visas into Portugal. His story is one

Only a week after the Implantation of the Republic on October 5, 1910, the Provisional Government cancelled 14 religious holidays and instituted five secular bank holidays in order to create

In 2014, I wrote about Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes who, during WW2, issued visas to save the lives of over 30,000 people (including 10,000 Jews) fleeing the Nazis.