The former Socialist Party leader was admitted to the hospital early on 13 December and went into intensive care, where he was said to have been unconscious.

According to the hospital spokesman, José Barata, the former head of state is now taking food - albeit he is not feeding himself - and for part of the day he has been sitting up in a chair in the intensive care unit.

"The multi-disciplinary medical team who are monitoring President Mário Soares assess very positively the development that he has shown over this first week of hospitalisation," Barata said. Nevertheless, he added, "as a precautionary measure, President Mário Soares will remain in the intensive care unit".

The spokesman declined to give journalists any estimate as to the date when he might be moved to a normal room.

Asked about the diagnosis that had led to Soares being taken to hospital, Barata said that information was confidential and a matter for him and his family.