Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

From this noble hall of the Caminha County Council, under this imposing ceiling that has for long accompanied the history of this town, I greet all of its people.

From Caminha, Portugal opens its arms to the sea. International trading made a very early start in this coastal town. It was in 1390 that King Dom John I classified Caminha as a free port. This spirit of opening outward is, today as it ever was, and maybe now more than ever, fundamental for our progress.

Sailors boarded their ships from here to open up new worlds. Some went back, others stayed here to preserve this “golden nest” that, in the words of Raul Brandão, is the town of Caminha.

In this Minho province where the lands are eternally carpeted in green, between the mountains and the sea, in this nucleus of Portuguese territory, the will to fight for a better Portugal has always been the assertive word.

The people of Caminha and their local authorities are well aware on how to interpret that will. Because here, as anyway in all of Portugal, what is required are better conditions to create wealth, better working conditions, better conditions for growth.

Bolstering cultural and historical values is a strategy to attract outsiders and to increase the inhabitants’ quality of living. The recovery of the Valadares Cine-Theatre and of the Main Parish Church, and the building of the new Municipal Library are good instances of the priority which is awarded to culture.

The Presidency of the Republic is intensely pleased in becoming associated, in the terms of the Protocol now concluded, to this effort of providing cultural and historical values, collaborating with the Caminha County Council in this great project that is the building of a Museum dedicated to the life of Sidónio Pais and in the organization of the heritage of this former President of the Republic, a native of Caminha.

Independently from the opinion each one of us may have of them, it is an imperative of citizenry to recall the individualities that placed a mark on the history of Portugal. We also have the duty to bring to light the deeds and values that provided life to our collective course. And is there History in Caminha! Each flagstone, each street, each rampart are keepers of the memory of so many of our betters.

With the Mediaeval Fair that is being held here, the past comes back to life and shows growing success with the public. This event is now in its 8th edition and has not stopped growing. It becomes larger each year that passes and attracts more and more visitors. And the President of the Republic could not but be present in this encounter with the history of the High Minho.

The theme chosen for this year’s edition of the Mediaeval Fair was “Troubadours and Jesters – songs of love, friendship, mockery and contempt” The spirit of the Minho people is merry, revelling, communicative, and expansive. It is above all in difficult times that we need moments of feasting, poetry and good humour, in order to better face our daily hardships.

But allow me to say it; if there is anything we need in these times then songs of friendship are the answer: to be friends, to feel solidarity, to understand that we are all neighbours together and that we need each other’s help.

We, in Portugal, are each other’s neighbours and have the duty to feel mutual solidarity. But we are also neighbours of all those who decided to create a larger community, a community in which we all have to help each other, the European Union.

The history of Caminha provides us with a peculiar example: in 1462 King Dom Afonso V heard the complaints of the La Guardia Galicians that had trading relations with Caminha and felt discriminated against. And he considered they had grounds for complaining. For this reason, on 1 July 1492, he granted them a “charter of neighbourhood”; as neighbours of Caminha they thus achieved all the privileges and the rights of the town’s inhabitants. The King instructed all authorities to allow the inhabitants of both shores of the river Minho “to continue being neighbours” without any interference.

A great lesson from the past. What we have in Europe today is a true “charter of neighbourhood” that gives us guarantees that we are each other’s neighbours. And that, to continue “neighbouring” without interference, we owe solidarity to each other, in facts and not just in words.

This is a day for feasting. When the party finishes, as we all know, it will be time for work, for a lot of work. I cannot forget the message relayed by the monument that represents, in its perpetuity, the renewal of Caminha’s image. The Clock Tower is one of this town’s more ancient monuments. But it is equally a monument that was reinvented to continue being what it is now: a symbol of the will to conquer of the people of Caminha.

The Clock Tower began by being a turret that was part of the ramparts, one of the entrances to mediaeval Caminha, the “Porta de Viana”. It was a bastion and a sentinel for the town’s defence. Later, in the 17th century, when its military function was lost, it was subject to renewal. A bell and a clock were added to it. The strokes of the bell now set the rhythm of the people’s lives. This clock at the people’s service has a meaning: that of the introduction of the exact measurement of time. The right time, the same for everybody, which allows organizing life and regulating working hours. The clock’s time is a sign of modernism and of rationality.

This is the great lesson of the Clock Tower: the clock’s time never stops. It allows us to know how much time was left out and lost and cannot be recovered. But it also teaches us to take better advantage of the time we have in front of us.

Let us party now, since this is a partying day. A well deserved pause that prepares us for what lies ahead. Since time never stops we have above all to organize ourselves to take better advantage of it.

My sincere greetings to the great festival of Caminha.