LANGUAGE & CULTURE
There are few faux pas more injurious to national esteem, than to suggest that Portuguese is a mere dialect of Spanish. Great pride is taken in the language and literature. Os Lusiadas, the national epic by 16th-century poet Camões, is studied reverentially, while many Portuguese also delight in the detached, ironic portrait of themselves in the 19th-century novels of Eça de Queirós. Pride too is taken in fado, the native musical tradition which expresses the notion of saudade. In rural areas, especially the Minho, there is still an enthusiastic following for folk dancing.
There are several excellent newspapers, but the country’s best-selling daily is A Bola, which is devoted exclusively to sport, football being a national obsession. Bullfighting also has its adherents, although with nothing like the passion found in Spain.
The country has become more forward-looking in recent years, but most aspects of heritage hark back to the Discoveries. The best-loved monuments are those built in the one uniquely Portuguese style of architecture, the Manueline, which dates from this period. Many azulejo tile paintings, another cherished tradition, also glory in Portugal’s great maritime past.
When the Portuguese joined the European Community in 1986, Commission President Jaques Delors solemnly warned them that they should think of themselves as "Portuguese first and Europeans second". Typically, the Portuguese were too polite to laugh out loud. How could anyone have imagined that this little country was in danger of suddenly throwing overboard centuries of culture matured in staunch independence.