My neighbour, the Prime Minister (Portugal)

Press Europe/Expresso ^ | November 17th 2011 | Bernardo Mendonça

[Cardhu]

In the suburban street in Lisbon that is home to Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, the crisis has come knocking. Expresso reports on the manner in which austerity measures imposed by their high-profile neighbour have affected the lives of middle-class Portuguese who live in the area.

Pedro Passos Coelho were to leave his building by the main entrance (and not via the discreet garage exit to the rear, which he has been using since he became Prime Minister), he would see the real impact of the crisis in the street where he lives in Massamá. The country is angry.

So too are most of the local residents – on the day when a new tax on holiday and Christmas bonuses was announced, some of the locals turned up outside the home of their illustrious neighbour to shout insults.

Just opposite, a hair salon and a restaurant at number 27 Rua da Milharada have closed down. The restaurant, which was unable to attract enough customers, had already changed hands three times over the last two years.

And on this traffic artery bordered by high buildings that look like they might have been made of Lego, so typical of suburban Lisbon, you only have to drop in on some of the local traders to see the scale of the crisis that is threatening the entire street.

“Nice and well-brought-up”

With every passing month, businesses are going bankrupt, and more and more locals are losing their jobs or having to accept pay cuts. Here, like everywhere in the country, the new austerity measures that are announced every two months have punctuated the mournful news of economic decline.

[Cardhu]

Francisco and Bernadette Sesinando, Pedro Passos Coelho's
neighbours.