This week marks the 65th anniversary of Jornal do Algarve. More precisely, it was on March 30, 1957 that, as a result of the enthusiasm of journalist José Barão (1904-1966), then columnist for the Lisbon daily The century, and a group of merchants from Vila Real de Santo António, saw the debut issue of what would become the most emblematic and influential newspaper in the region.
Fruit of an idea that had been germinating since a famous gathering in Chiado (Lisbon), in 1951, born from the storm of ideas resulting from the 2nd Congress of the Algarve, Jornal do Algarve was born not only from the desire to make a simple periodical newspaper, but above all the desire to develop the region. It was born a few months after the first broadcast of RTP, at Feira Popular in Lisbon.
Heir to a tradition of the Press with roots in Vila Real de Santo António – of which the maximum exponent was the periodical “Notícias do Algarve”-, Jornal do Algarve sought its way through various “flags” and claims of a region hitherto backward, despised and far from the symbols of modernity that would one day be a hallmark.
But it was there, among that group of men – and some women – that the idea of a tourist Algarve was born, a congress palace, an airport that would make Portela unnecessary for the crowds of tourists who would one day seek the region, a motorway and even a decent electrical grid, at a time when darkness reigned above the EN125. Electricity, only on the coast!
As a first imperative, the newspaper dedicated itself to “Operação Algarve Turismo”, as early as 1960, when the region still did not have a decent tourist unit. Inspired by the 1st National Tourism Congress, led by António Quadros, from the National Information Service, “Operação Algarve Turismo” would later result in the first classified tourist units, the pioneer of which the Hotel Vasco da Gama, opened on 1960 August XNUMX, investment by the Sousa Uva family, sponsored by José Barão and Jornal do Algarve.
For the first years of the newspaper, the founder had first-rate journalists and columnists, such as Torcato da Luz, Encarnação Viegas, Maria de Olhão and Mário Zambujal.
After José Barão's death, on August 30, 1966, the newspaper's direction was taken over by his son, António Barão, with the support of the editor-in-chief José Manuel Pereira and columnists such as Marcelino Viegas, João Leal and José Cruz (who he was also editor-in-chief from 1979 to 1983), among others.
As of 1983, the weekly is acquired and the newspaper's management is assumed by Fernando Reis, who renews the newsroom, expanding the newspaper and maintaining (and renewing) the main “flags” for the development of the Algarve.
There were four decades of profound development and expansion of the newspaper, until the death of the director sworn in 39 years earlier, on December 4, 2021. Since then, the historic director Fernando Reis – now “Director In Memorian” – has been replaced by his wife, Maria Luísa Travassos, in charge of the newspaper.
March 30, 2022, therefore, marks the 65th anniversary of Jornal do Algarve, one of the most prestigious periodicals published in the region and the most historic among those published.
The Special Anniversary edition of March 30 (which will be published under nº 3392) will include several articles dedicated to the ephemeris, most of which are testimonies from former collaborators and leading figures in the region over these 65 years.
Next Thursday it will be on newsstands for the 3392nd time!
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