The Day of Portugal, Camões and Portuguese Communities is celebrated with Portuguese people around the world and with the new Virtual Consulate

Hundreds of activities planned around the world, two dozen members of the government in direct contact with Portuguese-speaking communities spread across the four corners of the globe and the virtual consulate, which comes into operation to facilitate the lives of Portuguese living outside the country , access to various services. This is how the Day of Portugal, Camões and Portuguese Communities is celebrated this year, the official start of which began on Monday [dia 5]with the state visit of the President of the Republic to South Africa.

Together with the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defense and Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa celebrates Portugal’s National Day outside the country as usual , with some of the largest diaspora communities – it is estimated that over 300,000 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants reside in South Africa.

Already in the national territory, June 10 is celebrated this year in Peso da Régua, where the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister will be on Friday and Saturday [dia 10].

22 Diaspora leaders

In addition to Prime Minister António Costa, Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho and National Defense Minister Helena Carreiras marking Portugal Day in South Africa, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities Paulo Cafôfo, remains on the African continent to celebrate, together with the Portuguese community of Namibia, the Portuguese culture and language and the lusuitude, as inspiring forces and projection of Portugal in the world.

Also in Africa, four other government officials – the Minister of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, the Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, the Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, and the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes – who, respectively, join the Portuguese and Portuguese descendants in Mozambique, Cape Verde, Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe, strengthening the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, where some of the approximately 260 million Portuguese speakers reside.

In Macao, in the middle of the Asian continent, but where Portuguese is also an official language, will be the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, André Moz Caldas, while in Oceania, more precisely in Australia, will be the Secretary of State for Social Security, Gabriel Bastos, because there is a Portuguese in the four corners of the world.

On the American continent, there will be seven members of the government. In the north, Justice Minister Catarina Sarmento e Castro marks Portugal Day with Portuguese and Portuguese descendants residing in Canada, while in the United States of America, with two of the most expressive Portuguese communities, will be the Secretary of State of European Affairs, Tiago Antunes, and the Secretary of State for Inclusion, Ana Sofia Antunes, respectively in San Francisco and Newark.

In Latin America, the Minister of Interior Administration, José Luís Carneiro, will celebrate with the important Portuguese community in Venezuela, and the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, who celebrates June 10 in Argentina. The Undersecretary of State to the Prime Minister, António Mendonça Mendes, and the Secretary of State for Urban Mobility, Jorge Delgado, will be in Brazil and Colombia respectively.

Closer, in neighboring Spain, will be the Minister of Economy and the Sea, António Costa Silva, followed by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, in France. In Belgium, the Secretary of State for Digitization and Administrative Modernization, Mário Campolargo, while, right next to him, the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, Nuno Santos Félix, celebrates Portugal with the Portuguese community in Luxemburg. In Europe, there will also be the Secretary of State for Education, António Leite, who will celebrate with the large community of Switzerland.

First phase of the Virtual Consulate

To symbolically mark this year’s celebrations, but above all to facilitate and help the lives of Portuguese communities residing abroad to access consular services, the Virtual Consulate has been launched.

It is a tool that aims to bring public administration services closer to Portuguese people around the world, providing online a set of services and information that until now have only been accessible at the Post Offices. and consular sections.

The first phase of the Virtual Consulate, which comes into service three years earlier than planned, provides the first nine services (see attached note).

Portugal Day celebrations around the world

In keeping with tradition, the Portuguese diplomatic and consular network celebrates the Day of Portugal, Camões and Portuguese Communities with hundreds of different activities, combining its own initiatives with those of the local associative movement, which is once again mobilizing to commemorate the event – an effort undertaken by Portuguese-speaking Associations, which in many cases have the support of Embassies and Consulates.

Concerts, exhibitions, plays, highlighting the work of Portuguese artists, through cinema or documentaries, seminars, traditional fairs, moments of reading, among many others, are some of the initiatives planned to mark the date.