1996 in Portugal explained

Events in the year 1996 in Portugal.

Incumbents

• President

Mário Soares (until 9 March); Jorge Sampaio

• Prime Minister

António Guterres

Events

January to June

• 6 January – Two children aged 9 and 11 are killed after a three-story building collapses in Lisbon following weeks of heavy rain. Occupied by approximately 600 unauthorised squatters, the building was one of many older structures in the capital to be progressively weakened and fail from the ongoing inclement weather.^[1]
• 14 January  - Presidential election: Jorge Sampaio of the Socialist Party is elected President of Portugal with 53.8% of the vote, defeating the Social Democratic candidate and former Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva. Following the Socialist Party's success in the parliamentary elections in 1995, Sampaio's victory marks the first time since the Carnation Revolution in 1974 that voters have elected both a President and a Prime Minister from the same political party.^[2]
• 24 January – Two Portuguese soldiers are killed alongside an Italian soldier after an accidental bomb explosion occurs at a barracks in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Despite the deaths, which come as part of NATO peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia, both President Mario Soares and Prime Minister António Guterres re-iterate Portugal's involvement in the region.^[3]
• 9 March  - Jorge Sampaio is sworn in as the new President of Portugal in a ceremony held in the Assembly of the Republic, replacing the outgoing Mário Soares after ten years in office.^[4]
• 18 May – Portugal participates in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo with singer Lúcia Moniz performing the song "O Meu Coração Não Tem Cor".^[5] Moniz finishes the competition in sixth position, the highest placing achieved by a Portuguese contestant until Salvador Sobral's victory in 2017.^[6]
• 4 June – The government and French automobile manufacturer Renault announce a deal which sees the government purchase a Renault-owned car assembly plant in Setúbal in exchange for the sale of government assets in Renault-owned ventures within the country. The deal ends three years of negotiation between the government and Renault over the Setúbal factory, which since 1993 has seen the loss of more than 450 jobs.^[7]
• 23 June – In association football, the Portuguese national team are eliminated from UEFA Euro 1996 after a 1–0 loss to the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.^[8]

July to September

• 2 August – At the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, Fernanda Ribeiro wins the women's 10,000-metre event in a new Olympic record time of 31 minutes 1.63 seconds, becoming the third Portuguese athlete to achieve an Olympic gold medal.^[9]
• 13 October:
  • Azorean regional election

The Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party each win 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Azores. The Socialist Party led by Carlos César subsequently forms a minority government with the support of the CDS – People's Party, ending two decades of Social Democratic governance.^[10]

• • Madeiran regional election

The Social Democratic Party achieves a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, winning 41 of the 59 available seats with 56.9% of the vote. The Socialist Party finishes as the second largest party in one of its strongest results in the Madeiran Assembly, securing thirteen seats with a vote share of 24.8%.^[11]

• 6 December – A series of events are held marking the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Portugal by Manuel I. Speaking in the National Assembly, President Jorge Sampaio describes the 1496 expulsion as "iniquitous act with deep and disastrous consequences", and joins Dan Tichon, the Speaker of the Knesset in Israel, and leaders of the Portuguese Catholic Church in a session of prayers at the Lisbon Synagogue.^[12]

Arts and entertainment

See also: 1996 in Portuguese television.

• 7 March  - Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 (Festival da Canção)
• 5 December  - The cable television channel Canal Panda launched, then known as Panda Club.

Sports

• 8-14 April  - 1996 Estoril Open (tennis)
• 22 September  - 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix (Formula One)
• Establishment of the Taça Nacional Sénior de Futsal Feminino.

Births

• 25 March  - Afonso, Prince of Beira, son of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza
• 1 November  - Daniela Melchior, actress
• 7 November  - André Horta, footballer
• 29 November  - Gonçalo Guedes, footballer
• 4 December  - Diogo Jota, footballer

Deaths

• 1 March – Vergilio Ferreira, writer (born 1916).^[13]
• 1 April  - Alfredo Nobre da Costa, engineer and politician, Prime Minister of Portugal (1978) (born 1923).^[14]
• 16 June – David Mourao-Ferreira, writer and poet (born 1927).^[15]
• 13 August  - António de Spínola, military officer, politician and writer (born 1910).^[16]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kids killed in Lisbon building collapse. United Press International. 6 January 1996. 22 March 2022.
2. Web site: WORLD NEWS BRIEFS; Socialist Wins Portugal's Presidency. The New York Times. Reuters. 15 January 1996. 19 March 2022.
3. Web site: Portugal sticks to Bosnia policy. United Press International. 25 January 1996. 24 October 2021.
4. Web site: New Portuguese president sworn in. United Press International. Barry. Hatton. 9 March 1996. 24 October 2021.
5. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1996. European Broadcasting Union. 24 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20120104155623/http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=311. 4 January 2012. dead.
6. Web site: 2017: O ano em que Portugal venceu o Festival Eurovisão da Canção. Portuguese. 2017: The year Portugal won the Eurovision Song Contest. Diário de Notícias. Lusa News Agency. 17 December 2017. 23 March 2022.
7. Web site: Renualt SA To Sell Portugal Plant, Buy Back Assets. Associated Press. 4 June 1996. 24 March 2022.
8. Web site: Golden goal: Karel Poborsky for the Czech Republic v Portugal (1996). The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Nick. Ames. 3 October 2014. 25 March 2022.
9. Web site: Fernanda Ribeiro venceu ouro olímpico há 25 anos na corrida de uma vida. Portuguese. Fernanda Ribeiro won Olympic gold 25 years ago in the race of a lifetime. Diário de Noticias. Lusa News Agency. 1 August 2021. 29 April 2022.
10. Web site: 1996: a outra minoria do PS Açores. pt. 1996: the other minority of the PS Azores. Sábado. Maria. Henrique Espada. 29 October 2020. 28 March 2022.
11. Web site: Regionais de 1996 com o PS a eleger 13 deputados e Edgar Silva (CDU) pela primeira vez. pt. Funcal Notícias. Emanuel. Silva. 1 July 2019. 24 April 2022.
12. Web site: Portugal Seeks to Atone for 1496 Expulsion of Jews. The New York Times. Associated Press. 6 December 1996. 22 March 2022.
13. Web site: Obituary: Vergilio Ferreira. The Independent. James. Kirkup. 23 October 2011. 2 November 2021.
14. Web site: Former Prime Minister Nobre da Costa Dead at 73. Associated Press. 1 April 1996. 19 March 2022.
15. Web site: OBITUARY : David Mourao-Ferreira. The Independent. Antonio. de Figueiredo. 19 June 1996. 2 November 2021.
16. Web site: Antonio de Spinola, 86, a Bridge To Democracy for the Portuguese. The New York Times. Associated Press. 14 August 1996. 21 March 2022.