President Marcelo commemorates Portugal Day in Pedrógão Grande
On a day when the media is still buzzing with the results and fall-out of the European elections, President Marcelo is in Pedrógão Grande – the interior municipality whose name has become synonymous with the worst wildfire tragedy in living memory.
Last year, the inhabitants of Pedrógão Grande felt they had been well and truly forgotten. This year, Portugal’s Head of State is making up for their disillusionment, on a day when legendary poet Luís Camões and emigré communities are also remembered.
In a speech in which he evoked the country’s diverse ‘nine centuries of history’, Marcelo recalled the fires which spread throughout the central interior in 2017, saying they must never be allowed to happen again… and because of the focus most recently on immigration/ racism/ discrimination, he looked to a future “more equal and less discriminatory for every country and all Portuguese”.
At a lunch with the mayors of all the municipalities affected by the devastating fires that killed over 100 people, destroying countless homes and livelihoods, Marcelo insisted on the need to improve conditions in interior municipalities.
“This means easier access, favourable taxes, social and collective facilities that allow family members, children and young people to remain in the future. It means a dirty word called cohesion. Cohesion means correcting the inequalities that exist,’ he told reporters.
Tomorrow will be the moment for commemorating emigré communities, this time in Switzerland – and next year (the last of Marcelo’s final presidency), he has promised something ‘different’ in the south…
