cafebabel.com

Catarina Botelho on crisis, arts and just everyday life in Portugal

('Emmanuel Haddad',) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:05:05 -0000

The visual artist and photographer from Lisbon focuses on the relationship between close friends, family and objects, as well as doing the odd stint working abroad. We talk about the arts in Portugal, culture during a crisis and staying forever amateur

Portuguese singer Camane: 'Nobody in my generation was listening to fado music'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:37:04 -0000

While ‘folk music‘ isn’t too popular in most countries, the Portuguese fado attracts a wide range of generations - at least in its home country. The masculine figurehead of a new generation of fadistas, 44, speaks about the genre’s roots

Chelas: not such a dodgy neighbourhood of Lisbon

('Filip Jurzyk',) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:02:48 -0000

‘You were in Chelas? I’ve lived in Lisbon for eight years and I have never risked going there,’ says Melinda, a 23-year old student who moved to Portugal with her family from Cape Verde. Melinda isn’t the only one who knows of the bad reputation of this district

Spanish, Belgian media on Portuguese prime minister resignation

('euro topics',) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:15:00 -0000

José Sócrates handed in his resignation on 23 March after the austerity measures proposed by his minority government were rejected by parliament. The interest rates for Portuguese government bonds then rose to record highs while the euro dropped on currency markets. The eurozone can only avoid new perils when everyone understands that the times of plenty are over, writes the press

Portuguese student on Portugal ignoring politics

('victor escandell',) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:00:00 -0000

The president of Portugal, the conservative Aníbal Cavaco, has been re-elected in the first round with 52.9% of the votes and the lowest turnout in the history of the Portuguese democracy. A Portuguese student breaks down the general pessimism and the lack of power in his country, next candidate, according to certain media, for a financial bail-out

Europe and PIIGS: bitchy politics

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:38:23 -0000

The acronym 'PIIGS' seems to have characterised the five eurozone losers as that nasty group of girls that everyone hated in school. Since things turned sour on Europe’s financial front, the EU community has shown its bitchy side - a sentiment which is hardly emblematic of the shared vision that the EU was founded on. Rant

Anything but lethargic: multi-faceted life of a German in Lisbon

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Europe: ready for birth of abortion law?

('Nicola Potter',) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:00:00 -0000

On 13 April, the first-ever 'Brussels March For Life' took place in Belgium, which legalised abortion in 1990. Almost a month earlier though, women's rights pioneer Simone Veil became the sixth women ever to be 'immortalised' at the French academy. But 35 years after her 'Veil Law' legalised abortion in France, the topic remains a controversial issue

PIIGS unwelcome in the EU parlour: war of words rocks Eurozone

("naomi o'leary",) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:00 -0000

Despite Silvio Berlusconi’s dreams, the next member of the Eurozone is unlikely to be Israel; even Croatia or Turkey have taken a back seat. The current pan-EU squabble is over who should have been admitted to the eurozone in the first place

Evora, where life bumps to a different rhythm than in Lisbon

('Darren Thompson',) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:00:00 -0000

The economic development of the Alentejo region of the country poses the same problem faced by many Mediterranean countries. How can innovation and tradition survive side-by-side?

Low cost airlines lend citizens a 'European' identity

('Nathan Charlton',) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Budget travel is a reality for modern Europeans, a part of everyday life. Accounting for its environmental impact may affect the as yet fragile common European identity it lends to flying citizens

Buraka Som Sistema: 'We never wanted the African flag thing in our music'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:53:18 -0000

As four men from Lisbon and Luanda set Angolan disturbances to breakbeat music, the European press scrams to box the sound. We have a shot too when we meet the band on one of their tour legs in Paris. After all, they have been on a gradual rise in Europe over the last couple of years

Gonçalo M. Tavares: 'I hate the idea that everything you do is new'

('Kristina Bozic',) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:45:00 -0000

The Luanda-born epistemology professor at Lisbon University, 38, talks his award-winning novel 'Jerusalem', and why it took him so long to get published already

Education: looking for theology in France

('Marie Pepper',) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:00:00 -0000

Theology, or the study 'of realities relative to the divine'. Where can this subject be studied in Europe and who pays? Is it public or private?

Franco, Hitler and Mussolini: fascist-flavoured holidays

('Andrew Burgess',) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:15:00 -0000

Buy yourself a dictator-inspired trinket when you visit the tourist hotspots popular amongst nostalgists from the western and southern European right - overview

Greece, Portugal and Romania: save your species!

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Is Europe acting fast enough to halt irreversible biodiversity loss?

Laura Cesana: 'There should be more Erasmus programmes for teachers'

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

A linguist and voyager, the Italian painter transported her Jewish origins from the United States to Portugal, where her multiple identities are exhibited by a flourishing brushstroke

Rhys Hughes: 'the Welsh are very proud'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The British short-story writer, 41, cites Italo Calvino and Raymond Queneau as his influences, discusses literature, lipograms and Iberia - and why the boy from Wales only publishes in certain languages

Batman, goats and internet in Cavas do Monte, Portugal

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The living conditions in the north Portuguese mountaintops of S. Pedro do Sul have hardly changed in hundreds of years. Bit by bit, however, the uniting, modernising world is moving in, and the children are moving out

Apple gets fair on UK music downloads

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Portuguese no to reform treaty referendum, the pan-EU music marketplace and Sarkozy’s press conference

Iberia: unite Spain and Portugal

('Sophie Paterson',) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:00:00 -0000

28% of Portuguese and 45% of Spaniards want to unify Spain and Portugal

Loving dictator Salazar

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

General De Gaulle in France, Churchill in the UK. The Portuguese have voted the founder and leader of the authoritarian regime the 'greatest ever figure in Portuguese history'

Who are Lisbon's contemporary artists?

('Sophie Paterson',) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Who’s selling? Who’s buying? Who’s organising? Run-down of the unjustified creative pessimism in the Portuguese capital, from Culturgest, ZDB and

Hairy Portuguese women

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The French and Spanish joke goes that Portuguese women have moustaches

Barroso: see you in 2009?

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The Portuguese and current president of the European Commission could be re-elected after his mandate expires in June 2009

When Barroso was a communist

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 03:41:00 -0000

Watch the video of the current president of the European Commission when he was a student leader in 1975

Gagging Portuguese soldiers

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The facts speak for themselves in southern Europe, where 'disciplined' soldiers are forced to shut up and sign their contracts

Plunge into Portugal

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Journey to the southwest of the European continent in quest of ancient villages and avant-garde buildings

August culture vulture

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Despite a slow start to the summer weatherwise, Europe’s festivals – even outdoor festivals – are in full blossom. THE event overwiew for August

Portugal: small country, big expectations

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0000

From 1 July, Portugal assume the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, taking over a job well done from Germany

Abortion: pro-life tide

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Anti-abortion associations are ‘lobbies’ in many countries, with their demands being heard all over Europe. Conservative, traditional values come first

Portugal sits on the fence

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0000

The February 11 referendum on the decriminalisation of abortion has garnered mixed reactions

Jorge Sampaio: ‘Europe has dropped a beat'

('Daniel G. Ross',) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal, on the European dream, a constitution revival and feeling Portugese

2007: A Space Odysseus

('Sarah Turpin',) — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Homer's hero is now travelling the length and breadth of the world wide web. With Germany’s six month presidency in full swing, the Goethe Institute has designed a virtual journey for artists. How is Europe searching for itself?

Transe ('Trance') - journey to hell

('Jo Ashworth',) — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 12:00:00 -0000

The controversial new film offering from Portuguese director Teresa Villaverde premieres in France on December 27

Post colonial opportunism

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 03:32:00 -0000

From the 3 to 5 November, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries will meet in Montevideo, Uruguay, for the 16th Ibero-American summit

Cristina Branco, the magic of fado

('Nuala Morgan',) — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:51:00 -0000

If you haven’t heard of Cristina Branco it’s likely that you haven’t heard of fado, a melancholy Portuguese singing tradition which is set to take Europe by storm