1997 in Portugal

← 1996 1995 1994 1997 in Portugal → 1998 1999 2000
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See also:	List of years in Portugal

Events in the year 1997 in Portugal .

Incumbents

• President: Jorge Sampaio
• Prime Minister: António Guterres (Socialist)

Events

• 16 February – In an interview with Radio Renascença, Prime Minister António Guterres confirms that he will not support two separate bills introduced by the youth wing of the Socialist Party and the Communist Party to liberalise the existing abortion law, which are set to be debated in the Assembly later in the week. ^[1]
• 26–27 February – A warm spell causes temperatures to rise to record levels, with weather stations in Aveiro and Viana do Castelo each observing a high 25°C on 26 and 27 February respectively, Portugal's highest ever winter temperatures. ^[2]
• 16 April – Amarante massacre: Thirteen people are killed in the Meia Culpa nightclub in Amarante after three armed men lock patrons and employees inside and set fire to the building. José Queirós, the owner of a rival nightclub in Amarante, is later convicted of organising the attack and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. ^[3]
• 3 May – Portugal participates in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with Célia Lawson performing the song "Antes do adeus". Lawson finishes the competition in last place out of the 24 competing nations, ^[4] scoring zero points. ^[5]
• 21 June – Foreign Minister Jaime Gama announces that fresh dialogue will be held with the Indonesian government over the future of East Timor, a former territory of the Portuguese Empire that was annexed by Indonesia in 1975. ^[6]
• 8–10 August – The Festival do Sudoeste music festival is held for the first time in Zambujeira do Mar with American singer Marilyn Manson and English bands Blur and Suede performing as the headline acts. ^[7]
• 31 October – Twenty-nine people are killed after heavy rainfall causes mudslides in the Azores. The storm system continues over the Atlantic Ocean and reaches mainland Portugal on 1 November, where further rainfall leads to flooding in Setúbal up to 3 feet (0.91 m) in depth and the collapse of a hospital roof in Lisbon, injuring two people. ^[8]
• 5–6 November – Further heavy rainfall in Alentejo causes flooding along the banks of the Guadiana river at the Spanish-Portuguese border, killing ten people and severely damaging buildings in the town of Pomeral. ^[9]

Arts and entertainment

Publications

• Todos os Nomes ( All the Names ) by José Saramago. ^[10]

Films

• Ossos (Bones) by Pedro Costa. ^[11]
• Tentação (Temptation) by Joaquim Leitão. ^[12]
• Viagem ao Principio do Mundo ( Voyage to the Beginning of the World ) by Manoel de Oliveira. ^[13]

Births

• 31 May – Inês Murta, tennis player. ^[14]
• 19 November – Salomé Afonso, middle-distance runner. ^[15]

Deaths

• 13 June – Al Berto, poet (born 1948). ^[16]
• 17 November – Orlando Ribeiro, geographer and historian (born 1911). ^[17]

References

1. García, Javier (17 February 1997). "El primer ministro socialista de Portugal, contrario a ampliar el aborto" [Portugal's socialist prime minister against expanding abortion]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2021.
2. Neves, Céu (27 February 2019). "Inglaterra bate recordes de temperatura. Em Portugal ainda vale o de 1997". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 March 2021.
3. "Autor moral do massacre na boîte Meia Culpa em Amarante continua preso após 20 anos". Observador (in Portuguese). Lusa News Agency. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
4. "Eurovision Song Contest 1997". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
5. Mackay, Emily (8 May 2017). "What happened to the Eurovision contestants who scored nul points?". BBC Music. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
6. "New Talks on East Timor Problem Open". The New York Times. 21 June 1997. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
7. "10 acontecimentos que marcaram 1997" [10 events that marked 1997]. Jornal de Negocios (in Portuguese). 23 November 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
8. Krilic, Samir (3 November 1997). "Azores buries landslide victims while storm strikes Portugal's coast". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
9. "Towns in Spain, Portugal engulfed by flooding". CNN. Reuters. 6 November 1997. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
10. "The Novels of a Nobelist". The New York Times. 9 October 1998. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
11. Comolli, Jean-Louis (2010). "Frames and Bodies — Notes on Three Films by Pedro Costa: Ossos, No Quarto da Vanda, Juventude em Marcha". Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry (24): 62–70. doi:10.1086/655929 . Retrieved 21 October 2021.
12. "1997 - TENTAÇÃO". Instituto Camões. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
13. Holden, Stephen (6 October 1997). "FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW; Finding Roots in the Heart of an Ancient Aunt". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
14. "Ines Murta". Billie Jean King Cup. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
15. "Salomé AFONSO". World Athletics. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
16. Kirkurp, James (9 July 1997). "Obituary: Al Berto" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
17. Firmino, Teresa (12 February 2011). "O geógrafo que gostava de fotografia, de música e de vulcões". Público. Retrieved 10 October 2011.