The Loulé Council will award, this Thursday, 13 May, Municipal Day, the Medal of Honor to health professionals who are part of the county's health units and who were at the forefront in the fight against the pandemic. In addition, the municipality will also honor personalities from the municipality, such as Dino d'Santiago and Joaquim Guerreio and Luís Guerreiro, the latter posthumously.
From 20:30 pm, the Cineteatro Louletano will receive the solemn session attributing the Medals of Honor and Municipal Merit to citizens who stood out in the most diverse areas of activity, achieving public notoriety and, in this way, contributing to raise the name of this Municipality. The ceremony will be broadcast live on Facebook from the Municipality of Loulé.
In this edition, 14 municipal medals will be awarded: 1 of Honor and 13 of Merit, of which 4 are Gold, 7 are Silver and 2 are Bronze. Four will be awarded posthumously.
In a year marked by the pandemic, in which health professionals were at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, the municipality will award the Medal of Honor to the men and women who are part of the various health units in this territory: health centers, clinics, hospitals, laboratories and Drive Thru, in different activity categories, whether doctors, nurses, senior diagnostic, therapeutic and laboratory technicians, technical and operational assistants.
This will be “a tribute to the courage, personal sacrifice and spirit of resilience of these professionals, the true heroes in a difficult and unforeseen scenario for Humanity”, says Câmara de Loulé.
This year, two renowned musicians will be awarded the Medal of Merit – Gold Degree: pianist and composer Mário Laginha who has his family roots in the municipality of Loulé and is strongly linked to Loulé by his own artistic activity (he is, for example, artistic director of the Loulé International Jazz Festival), and Dino D'Santiago, a native of Quarteira who is one of the main faces of the cultural movement “Nova Lisboa”, ambassador of Cape Verdean music. Co-producer of the album “À Moda Quarteiense”, he is also an activist for the arts and cultures of the world that has served as an inspiration for many young people.
Also with the Gold Degree, doctor João Barros Madeira will be honored posthumously, who left a huge legacy in community life and local politics, having been chairman of the Administrative Commission of Loulé City Council after 25 April and deputy for the PRD , as well as for the role he played in Loulé's associative life and the legacy he left as a doctor, and João Miguel, Judge Counselor of the Supreme Court of Justice, a man of Querença who has held the highest positions in the magistracy at national level and International.
As is tradition, sport is one of the areas in which Loulé people have played a prominent role and Rui Coimbra is a good example of this. The beach football player of the National Team and Sporting Clube de Portugal will receive the Silver Medal awarded by the Municipality that saw him born.
The same degree will be awarded to three Loulé residents who have had a relevant role in the care area: Manuel Filipe Semião, provider of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Loulé for years, founding member of the Rotary Club of Loulé and acting administrator of the António Aleixo Foundation, Henrique Fantasia, founder of Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Boliqueime, where he acted as treasurer and vice-provider, and Mário Venda, also one of the founders of Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Boliqueime, the institution of which he was the provider.
The Medal of Merit – Silver Degree will also be awarded, posthumously, to three people from Loulé who left a mark on the cultural and associative life of this municipality. Joaquim Guerreiro, former councilor of the Loulé Council, mentor of events such as the MED Festival and the Noite Branca, also a promoter of initiatives in the area of sport such as the “Loulé European City of Sport 2015” application or the Loulé Municipality Sports Gala , Luís Guerreiro, “the Engineer of Letters” who held the position of director in this Municipality in the areas of culture, communication or tourism, researcher of local and regional history, president of the Manuel Viegas Guerreiro de Querença Foundation, his birthplace, and who he actively collaborated in several cultural projects in the Algarve, and Hermes Alberto, who, as president of ASCA, developed a vast and relevant cultural and artistic social work in this institution of social solidarity in Almancil.
Finally, the Medal of Merit – Bronze Degree will be awarded to Maria Cremilde Lourenço, one of the artisans who are part of the Casa da Empreita collective and who is one of the symbols of popular culture and wisdom, bearer of knowledge of traditional arts that has passed on to generations younger, Valentim Filipe, the musician from Boliqueime, a great promoter of fado in the Algarve, creator of several competitions and galas dedicated to this musical genre and mentor of projects such as the group “Al-Mouraria” or “Amália Semper”.
«The human wealth of the municipality of Loulé is immense, which constitutes for us, as representatives of the local government, an enormous responsibility. The main objective of the attribution of these Medals is, therefore, their valorization as an example and a model within a committed community and committed to the values of full citizenship», considers Vítor Aleixo, president of the Loulé Council.
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