Consul José Alberto Alegria decorated for being a “bridge” between the Algarve and Morocco

There is no sea or air connection, but since 2001, there has been a “bridge” between the Algarve and Morocco: the honorary consul of Morocco in the Algarve José Alberto Alegria.

Nowadays, it is impossible to talk about relations between the region and that North African country without mentioning the name of the Algarve architect, whose proactivity in bringing the two parties together was widely highlighted and praised by ambassador Karima Benyaïch, mandated by the Moroccan sovereign to attribute a decoration to José Alberto Alegria, on Friday.

«For me, it is a great pleasure and a privilege to decorate the architect José Alegria. He has been working for years to bring Morocco and the Algarve closer together. It played a very important role in the development of relations between the Algarve and many Moroccan regions», he told the Sul Informação Karima Benyaich.

In this field, the diplomat highlights not only the many twinnings that were agreed (Faro, Albufeira, Tavira, São Brás de Alportel and Silves have “sister cities” in Morocco), but the various initiatives carried out by the consul to promote Moroccan culture in Portugal.

«It was necessary to pay a fair tribute to a personality like him, who worked hard for years and whose work we can now enjoy the fruits of», summarized the ambassador of Morocco.

The award-winning José Alegria admitted that this distinction “is a stimulus”. «I accept it with humility, but with pride, in the sense that it is the recognition of a job I have been doing for 14 years. But it's not a lonely job. It's from a network of people, from both countries. My role often consists of putting in contact people of high quality, human and scientific, in certain areas”, said the honorary consul of Morocco in the Algarve.

Over time, José Alegria has linked «universities, town halls and institutions of various natures», Portuguese and Moroccan, in order to «put them to work together».

«Basically, it is a territory of continuities, between the Algarve and Morocco: historical, cultural and human. And everything becomes easy when working on this basis», he summed up.