2001 in Portugal

← 2000 1999 1998 2001 in Portugal → 2002 2003 2004
Centuries:	19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	List of years in Portugal

Events in the year 2001 in Portugal .

Incumbents

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

Events

January to June

4 March: The collapse of the 116-year Hintze Ribeiro bridge into the Douro river claims the lives of 59 people.

• 14 January – Presidential election: Jorge Sampaio is re-elected for a second term as President after defeating his Social Democratic rival Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral. Having achieved more than half of all ballots cast in the first round, Sampaio's vote tally eliminates the need for a second run-off round. Turnout falls to approximately 50%, the lowest in a presidential election since Portugal's return to democracy in 1974. ^[2]
• 29 January – Heavy rainfall causes flooding across northern and central Portugal, cutting off villages and forcing the closure of roads and railway lines. The inclement weather leads to the deaths of six people and the sinking of a cargo ship carrying fertiliser off the Portuguese coast, whose crew of five are rescued from the Atlantic Ocean. ^[3]
• 4 March – The Hintze Ribeiro bridge near the town of Entre-os-Rios in the Porto District collapses into the Douro River below, killing 59 people. ^[4] In response Prime Minister António Guterres orders an official inquiry into the incident and accepts the resignation of Jorge Coelho, the Public Works Minister. The government additionally declares two days of national mourning. ^[1]
• 11 March – In motor racing, Finland's Tommi Mäkinen wins the 2001 Rally de Portugal. ^[5]
• 24 March – Fourteen people are killed and a further 24 are injured when a tour bus crashes down a 100-foot (30 m) ravine after leaving the IP3 highway near Santa Comba Dao in the central Viseu District. In response local residents stage a protest over the safety of the road, an action which follows similar demonstrations held in the months preceding the crash. ^[6]
• 7 April – The 2001 Globos de Ouro media awards ceremony is held at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon. Capitães de Abril wins the prize for Best Film and Vítor Norte ( Tarde Demais ) and Maria de Medeiros (Capitães de Abril) are awarded Best Actor and Best Actress respectively. ^{[7] [8]}
• 18 May – In association football, Boavista F.C. win the 2000–01 Primeira Liga after a 3–0 victory over C.D. Aves. It is the club's maiden top-flight league championship title and marks the first time in more than five decades that the championship has been won by a team from outside the country's big three clubs of F.C. Porto, S.L. Benfica, and Sporting CP. ^[9]

July to December

• 1 July – A new law decriminalising the use of all previously prohibited drugs, including cannabis and cocaine, comes into effect. ^[10]
• 25 August – Eleven people are injured when Transat Flight 236 carrying 304 passengers from Toronto to Lisbon is forced to make an emergency landing at Lajes Airport in the Azores after a reported loss of power to all engines. ^[11]
• 1 October – The legal blood alcohol limit for drivers is lowered from 0.5 to 0.2 milligrams per litre in a bid to reduce the number of road traffic accidents on Portugal's roads, which ranks as the highest in Europe. Fines imposed for speeding offences and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs are also increased. ^[12]
• 13 December – The historic centre of the town of Guimarães is declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ^[13]
• 16 December – Local elections: The Social Democratic Party wins control of 144 councils in what is seen as a comprehensive defeat for Prime Minister António Guterres' Socialist Party, ^[14] which in defiance of pre-election polls loses in its traditional strongholds of Lisbon and Porto. ^[15]
• 17 December – President Jorge Sampaio accepts the resignation of Prime Minister António Guterres following the Socialist Party's defeat in the local elections, opening the possibility of a general election in early 2002. Sampaio nevertheless does not rule out naming an interim Prime Minister until the election's planned date in October 2003. ^[14]

Arts and entertainment

Films

Main article: List of Portuguese films of 2001

• Ganhar a Vida ( Get a Life ) by João Canijo. ^[16]
• Vou Para Casa ( I'm Going Home ) by Manoel de Oliveira. ^[17]

Sports

Football (soccer) competitions: Primeira Liga, Liga de Honra

Births

• 27 March – Gustavo Ribeiro, skateboarder. ^[18]

Deaths

• 31 July – Francisco da Costa Gomes, military officer and politician, President of Portugal (1974–1976) (born 1914). ^[19]

References

1. "Portugal bridge collapse 'kills 70'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 March 2001. Archived from the original on 8 March 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
2. "Portugal's president re-elected". CNN. Reuters. 14 January 2001. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
3. "Six die in Portugal floods". CNN. Associated Press. 29 January 2001. Archived from the original on 29 March 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
4. Sousa, J.J.; Bastos, L. (2013). "Multi-temporal SAR interferometry reveals acceleration of bridgesinking before collapse". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 13: 659–667. doi: 10.5194/nhess-13-659-2013 .
5. "Makinen pips Sainz in Portuguese thriller". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 March 2001. Archived from the original on 18 October 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
6. "Packed tour bus crashes in Portugal, killing 14" . The Independent. Associated Press. 25 March 2001. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
7. "Cinema Português 2001" (in Portuguese). Instituto Camões. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
8. "Todos os vencedores da história dos Globos de Ouro" [All the winners in the history of the Golden Globes]. Caras (in Portuguese). 19 May 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
9. García, Javier (19 May 2001). "17ª Bundesliga para el Bayern". El Pais (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
10. Tremlett, Giles (20 July 2001). "Lisbon takes drug use off the charge sheet". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
11. "Canadian Jet, Engines Dead, Lands Safely In the Azores". The New York Times. Reuters. 25 August 2001. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
12. García, Javier (30 September 2001). "Portugal reduce drásticamente la tasa de alcoholemia". El Pais (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
13. "UNESCO classifica centro histórico de Guimarães como Património Mundial" . Público (in Portuguese). 13 December 2001. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
14. Vitzthum, Carlta (18 December 2001). "Portugal's Guterres Resigns After a Local Election Rout" . Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
15. Goncalves, Eduardo (18 December 2001). "Portugal's PM quits as cities fall to rival". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
16. Fernandes, Marta (27 April 2001). "«Ganhar a Vida» em França para voltar à terra natal" . Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 November 2021.
17. Fernandes, Marta (21 September 2001). "Manoel de Oliveira não pode ir para casa". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
18. Capela Martins, Paul (11 July 2021). "Gustavo Ribeiro: de prodígio a candidato a um pódio olímpico" [Gustavo Ribeiro: from prodigy to Olympic podium candidate]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2021.
19. de Figueiredo, Antonio (1 August 2001). "Francisco da Costa Gomes". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 13 August 2020.