Over the weekend, tempers and a lack of patience in the face of economic ruin forced a group of food and beverage businessmen to take matters into their own hands, as they threw bottles at Pubic Security Police Officers (PSP), and burned coffins during a demonstration on Avenida dos Aliados in Porto.
The protest, which started at around 16:00 brought together over a thousand businessmen who are up in arms over the preventative measures recently imposed by the Government of Portugal, led by António Costa, in order to reduce local transmissions of Covid-19. In addition to throwing bottles against members of the security forces, the demonstrators set fire to coffins to symbolise the death of the hospitability sector.
Portugal has been in a state of emergency since the 9th of November and will remain so until the 23rd. Among the restrictions is a mandatory curfew in 191 parishes across the country. During the week, the curfew is between 23:00 and 05:00, while on weekends movement is strictly limited between 13:00 on Saturday and 05:00 on Sunday, and between 13: 00 on Sunday and 05:00 on Monday.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
