Desidério Silva, president of the Algarve Tourism Board has broken one of the key rules of public relations by rising to the bait, this time laid by journalist Henrique Raposo writing in Expresso.
Raposo, in a fit of pique, made several less then complimentary observations about the Algarve´s people and published them in a nation newspaper.
“To kick off with, I get irritated by the militant unfriendliness of pure Algarvians, typical of Odiáxere, Vila Real, Monte Francisco, Castro Marim and Monte Gordo, but which also crops up in cities such as Portimão and Lagos. Finding a pleasant Algarvian is almost as hard as finding an Espírito Santo (family member) who is good at maths.”
“Indolent, insolent and characterised by a general lack of smiles,” is the hack´s summary of the Algarve people´s character.
Rather than ignoring this unwarranted critique, or issuing a statement saying Raposa is of course allowed and welcome to express his opinion, Desidério Silva has sent out a press release rejecting the columnist´s views, saying the piece “disregards Algarvians and the country’s main holiday destination, jeopardising the good name of the region.”
Raposo kicked off his admittedly vitrolic piece by writing, “For twenty years I have maintained a love-hate relationship with the Algarve,” yet he concentrated on the things he hates about the region.
Raposo´s writing was structured by a comparison between the Espirito family´s collapsed empire and the inhabitants of the Algarve but instead of rising above the criticism, Silva has attracted more attention to the 30-year old writer´s views.
“The columnist is referring to people who are among the best in welcoming tourists. Do I need to remind you of the 2013 study by the World Economic Forum which highlighted the hospitality and kindness of the Portuguese placing the country seventh on a ´niceness´ list?" huffed the president.
Silva threw in some more statistics and referred to a University of the Algarve study showing that Portuguese visitors have a strong affinity with the Algarve people.
Desidério Silva ended his defence by thanking all those who worked in tourism in the region.
Hopefully, Raposo will leave it at that but Silva has provided enough ammunition for the columnist really to let rip in response should he still feel bitter and angry at his poor treatment by locals along there shores.
So, Sr Silva, how about offering Raposo a free weekend in one of the Algarve´s top boutique hotels such as Fazenda Nova, fine dining and beachside grilled fish, sunset drinks on a yacht and fishing or dolphin watching?
The press often just want to be loved - embrace your enemy!
Comments
Or even a smile perhaps?
They are happy to take the taxes , of this ancient kingdom in its own right , and next stop is to drill for oil and ruin the place completely.
The algarvians are treated like peasant farmers and low educated staff taking orders from the politicians that say they are socialists.
Rise up algarvians , take back your gifted roads , and demand independence from your rulers.You could ba another outpost to the wealthy lisbon elite and their politicians in their pockets...you got rid of one dictator only to have him replaced by a hundred more.
I take no notice of this inexperienced boy's sensationalist nonsense - when he starts shaving he might learn to write intelligent prose.
Dear Desidério and dear Elidérico are the 2 worsest "rouffs" in the Algarve: they have practically "no powers" but they both think they are in "kings positions" in the Algarve. As a result the one will always shout far louder than the other in their efforts for "egotripping". As they cannot do it with "facts" of course they do it with "words". In these efforts can of course happen some "accidents" or "incidents". Like actual Desidério's declaration. The funny thing is that very often the figures they launch are "coloured - meaning manipulated" in their endeavour to surpass the other. But their messages can even be more luducrous . last year an english spoken weekly published "the new ASAE strategies" largely commented by Elidérico. The same week however we received an e-mail from sr Meirinho, Inspetor-Diretor of ASAE telling us that ASAE in the case of Alojamento local ASAE only works with DENUNCIATIONS. And one year later indeed nothing happened in this matter. Typical !
It is tragically unfortunate that NEITHER represent the ordinary Portuguese as an ordinary Portuguese would never become head of Algarve tourism (a mafiosi ? - given the difficulty of new small tourism start-ups) ... or get a job writing features at the Expresso AGAINST the Espirito Santo's interests - without having substantial family contacts.
Or do we assume Silva started out as a wine waiter and Raposo a tea boy on a provincial newspaper ?
Hence so many tens of thousands of Portuguese emigrating - to countries where their connections are much less relevant - their ability more so !!