Portugal’s parliament on Wednesday approved, unanimously, the president’s trips to Sao Tome and Principe, between 27 and 30 May, and to Cabo Verde and the Ivory Coast, from 10 to 15 June.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be travelling to Cabo Verde on 10 June “to participate in the celebrations of Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese communities,” which will kick off in Portalegre, southern Portugal.
Portugal’s National Day commemorates the death of writer and poet LuÃs de Camões on June 10, 1580.
Although officially observed only in Portugal, Portuguese citizens and emigrants throughout the world celebrate this holiday.
From Cabo Verde, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will travel to the Ivory Coast, “in this case, on an official visit,” according to the draft resolution approved.
First, at the end of this month, Rebelo de Sousa will go to Sao Tome and Principe “on invitation by his Sao Tome counterpart to participate in the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, which will take place on the Island of Principe,” and he will on his return stopover in Cabo Verde, the draft resolution reads.
According to the Portuguese constitution, the president cannot leave the national territory without authorisation from the parliament, with the exception of transit journeys or non-official trips, which the parliament should be informed of.
In 2016, when Rebelo de Sousa took office as president, he launched an unprecedented model of commemorations for Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, agreeing with the prime minister António Costa that the celebrations would start on national territory and extend to a foreign country with immigrant communities.
That year Portugal Day was celebrated between Lisbon and Paris. In 2017, the celebrations took place in Porto and in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In 2018 they took place in Ponta Delgada, Azores and in Boston, Providence and New Bedford, in the East Coast of the U.S. This year they are taking place in Portalegre and Cabo Verde.
