Albufeira received this Thursday, November 3, an official visit from the delegation from Ilha do Sal, in Cape Verde, and José Carlos Rolo stressed that “after an interregnum imposed by the pandemic, relations between the sister cities of Albufeira and Sal will be revived”.
The Algarve city received a delegation from that Cape Verdean island, within the scope of the exchange that was established 25 years ago between these two Municipalities, through the twinning agreement then signed.
In the Salão Nobre, José Carlos Rolo introduced the current executive to the delegation made up of Júlio Lopes dos Reis, mayor of Sal, Euclides do Rosário, councilor for Sports and Youth, and advisors Altino Ferreira and Ildo Rocha.
During the ceremony, the mayor stressed that "the reinforcement and maintenance of the Portuguese language" has been a key aspect within those that have been established, and also recalled some of the works carried out by the Municipality of Albufeira on that Cape Verdean island, namely the Ludoteca Santa Maria, the Pedra de Lume Social Center and the sanitation network, among others.
«Of all the relations with the Lusophone countries, I believe that Cape Verde is the country with which Portugal most identifies», José Carlos Rolo also stressed.
Júlio Lopes corroborated this point of view, noting that «when the Portuguese arrived in Cape Verde, there were no people, there were only stones, so the Cape Verdean people result from a miscegenation between Europe and Africa and their ancestral marks are still in funaná, this dance to the rhythm of ferrinhos from the north of Portugal, as well as Creole, a corruption of the way of speaking in northern Portuguese, with the use of 'b's' and the suppression of suffixes».
On a more strict level, the Salense mayor considers that the relations between Sal and Albufeira go beyond the areas established 25 years ago, because «this connection of ours is of an ontological order».
In a note, the Municipality of Albufeira mentions that, within the scope of International Relations, this city has twinning agreements with Dunfermline – Fife (Scotland; agreement signed on 13/05/1996), with Ilha do Sal (Cape Verde – agreement signed with 29/06/1997) and with Linz (Austria, agreement dated 31/01/2008 and ratified on 22/05/2009), favoring the areas of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Youth and Technologies. In addition to the cooperation agreements established with Seville (Consortium of Tourism, since 19/03/2019) and with Pontevedra (Députation Provincial – Vigo, since 30/10/2009).
Councilman Euclides do Rosário was pleased that visits between both cities are being resumed and his namesake, who, in addition to the Youth and Sports portfolios, is also responsible for International Relations, Cristiano Cabrita, said that "Albufeira is ready to collaborate on new projects within the scope of this twinning».
At the end of the reception, souvenirs were given to the delegation from Sal, namely an astrolabe, symbolically referring to the marks of History.
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