Elections are always held here on a Sunday. Then everyone has the day off — well, almost everyone … with illness and fires, there are always people at work, and without problems, you’d still need train conductors and coffee makers anyway, but you can’t take that into account, so:
Portuguese elections are always held on a Sunday,
because that’s when most people have the day off. These are very important elections. This is evident from the enormous billboards that cover the entire area, all with similar slogans. “Together” is very popular, “Future” too (which is “now,” and “for us”), “Social Justice” seems to be a typical PS thingy (look at my remark at the bottom); and apparently, there’s a huge amount to improve and change, and they’re definitely all going to go for it!
With all their might, because a Portuguese politician doesn’t come alone.
During the last election, I was so surprised by the number of faces on the various billboards that I now understand they were just putting up a bunch of sing-alongs. I thought it was the number of candidates— and that surprised me already, because my neighbor in his 70s was also on it, and so was a bakery assistant. And I was pretty sure neither of them wanted or could become president—that’s what a mayor is called here.
It looks great, doesn’t it, a group of people in a photo like that?
Portuguese society is exactly what it says, still: you live together, and you govern together. Well, in moderation, you know, you can exaggerate anything. It’s clear to me that the aforementioned acquaintances couldn’t become president; you’ll have to prove yourself within the parties first.
Our current president is probably very preoccupied with that right now, because you barely know he exists. Very busy with his upcoming career within the PS, because this is his third and final term. So, for about four years now, we’ve barely seen or heard anything from this man, even though he was a daily presence on Facebook during his first term.
I don’t think I’ll vote for the PS. They seem to have quite sticky pants. I’m not particularly fond of sticky pants, if I’m honest, before you know it, they’re busybusybusy with their own interests, and those of their friends. We now have a choice between the sticky-pants, the people who think you should hold up your own pants (PSD), those who think you shouldn’t put anything in your pockets (Chega), and the politicians who think men wear pants and women wear dresses (the Christian-leaning parties).
Now there’s an independent party
They call themselves O Novo Ciclo – The New Cycle. I almost drove off the road when I unsuspectingly turned onto a roundabout and was suddenly confronted with a huge poster of a clean-shaven, neat man who, in my opinion, was looking rather arrogantly into the camera.
It’s been a ping-pong match between the PS and the PSD for years, but now Chega has joined the fray, and this independent New Cycle. Chega is a national populist party that wants to expel all foreigners of color (the better-off foreigners are allowed to stay, of course) and put an end to corruption. They have a point, because the downside of a social society is that there are many friends of friends, and they get all the nice jobs and assignments.
Portugal has always been a society like a strangely shaped pyramid—a pointed hat with a very large base. The people at the bottom showed solidarity and supported each other, and the people in the hat did the same, only at a slightly different financial level.
I’ve asked my Artificial Intelligence Friend Venice to list the most important party points, because I’m definitely going to vote. Given the current state of the world, you’d think we should protect and preserve our democracy—even if it’s a mess, it’s still the best form of government humans have ever invented.
My decision stress is over. I’m about to make a (red) point!
What I always say is true here: the Portuguese do everything the other way around than the Dutch. The PS is the Socialist Party, but in reverse.
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We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal. We started to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa. You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.
Since Covid we rent the houses for a longer period of time, not as holiday houses anymore.
Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation.
In the weekend we publish it on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.