The Minister of Culture João Soares still does not know if the funds made available by the Government for the area he controls will increase, decrease or remain the same in the Algarve. However, the official warns that "the country is in an emergency situation" and that, therefore, "it seems obvious" that funds for Culture continue to be scarce.
João Soares, who visited the region yesterday, says he is “not yet in a position to give an answer on this matter [funds for Culture in the Algarve]. We are in the final stages of finishing the draft of the State Budget and only when it is out here, in the final version, can we talk about it».
But João Soares emphasizes that “it is necessary to be aware of the country's emergency situation. It is very serious and results from those adventures of those who put the markets above the country's interests, and the country's cultural interests».
For the minister, the “BPNs”, the “Banifs”, the “BES” and all the tragedies we have witnessed made the country live below what it was entitled to, it was not the Portuguese who lived above the possibilities, it was the men the financial system that ruined the country,” he accused.
“A good part of our financial system “eaten” resources that would have been much better used in the area of Culture and in the country's cultural affirmation, but it is the reality that we have been faced with until now”, he continued.
For the future, João Soares believes in a change and hopes that it will be reflected in more money: «there is, from the current Prime Minister, with whom I work in harmony and agreement, a clear desire to give culture a more important role than it had before. over the last few years. Namely, in the ranking governmental, Culture is no longer in the last place in the Government, now this needs to be translated into acts and financial resources», he asked.
But, judging by the words of João Soares, the scarcity of financial resources will continue for at least another year. «It seems obvious to me, not only at the Algarve level, but at the national level. Only those who are unable to look at the numbers will not realize that we are in a particularly difficult situation».
Minister has "a very strong connection with the Algarve", but he did not know who Ibn-Qasi was
João Soares was in the Algarve yesterday on a working visit where he visited Rîbat da Arrifana, Fortaleza de Sagres, Igreja de Santo António, in Lagos, Castelo de Paderne and Teatro das Figuras and Teatro Lethes, in Faro.
The minister says that the visit was made "from a perspective of proximity to the problems and the people who deal with them in the country" and that, since taking up the post in Culture, "what I have been trying to do is to go out into the field to talk to people, instead of making them go to Lisbon to talk to me».
In the case of the Algarve region, this «plays a very significant role in the country's cultural offer, with a vast and very striking heritage, and with some particularly important spaces».
João Soares stressed that «a very strong connection with the Algarve» and that he knows «very well the problems of the Algarve, in cultural terms, and not only». But he chose not to list them.
Despite knowledge of the region, João Soares admitted that he did not know who Ibn-Qasi was before the visit to Rîbat da Arrifana, an apprenticeship that “made my day”, he revealed.
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