The Spanish Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, and the Portuguese Minister of Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, were the protagonists of the reception held on Tuesday by Ambassador José Augusto Duarte to commemorate the Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities.
Both emphasized the great understanding and joint work that both administrations developed during the catastrophic “storm train” that struck the neighboring country last February, with storm Kristin being the most violent of the six that occurred between January 22 and February 7.
For the second consecutive year, the Portuguese ambassador held the commemoration of his National Day outside his official residence.
Last year, just a few days after his arrival, he held the reception at the Palace of Liria; it featured the intervention of the Minister of Culture, Margarida Balseiro; and hosted a special performance by the Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra.
This year was no different. The reception, which filled all 425 seats of its capacity, was held at the Reina Sofía Art Museum; there was not one minister but two —Carvalho and Aagesen—; and the art was provided by Portuguese guitarist Marta Pereira da Costa accompanied by her quintet.
Before the guitarist’s performance, the ambassador, the Secretary of State for the EU, Fernando Sampedro, and the two ministers spoke. All of them emphasized, within the framework of shared Europeanism, the excellent understanding and collaboration between both governments, as in the case of the climate disaster last February, which devastated several areas of Portugal and was also felt in Andalusia.
To explain the unusual violence of the storm, Sara Aagesen stated that its origin lies in climate change and expressed her belief that “this is the great challenge of our time.” Therefore, she insisted on the need for international collaboration and the importance of “climate intelligence” in the fight against extreme climate phenomena that originate from climate change.
The Portuguese minister thanked Spain for the management of its reservoirs in the four river basins shared by both countries —Miño, Duero, Tajo, and Guadiana— and assured that the water control carried out by the Spanish authorities “helped save lives and property that otherwise would have been lost.”
For Sara Aagesen, “this shows that when we work together, we achieve results that reduce the risk factor.” The Spanish minister stated that “we have worked very hard together, both governments, both ministries, and we can say that we are better prepared” before recalling that just two years ago “we were experiencing a huge water shortage in our territories in Spain and Portugal.”