The European project remains valid without the United Kingdom but the latter’s departure served as the occasion for a rethinking and strengthening of the core European values, was the message in a statement released by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
“The British people decided that the United Kingdom should no longer continue be part of the European Union, which can only bring us sadness,” the statement began.
“We should respect with serenity the decision of the majority of the British people in the certainty that the European project remains valid in the defence of the values that have, already for many centuries, shaped our common identity,” the statement continued.
“Portugal, as has happened for the last 30 years, should continue to remain committed to the ideals of peace, liberty, democracy, wellbeing and shared development that are at the heart of the European construction, as a central axis to the national vision and strategy for the future of the Portuguese and our country,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who signed off the statement after adding that such ideas needed “rethinking and strengthening.”
The President was also quoted by Lusa News Agency as saying his expectation was that the decision would not jeopardise the prospects of the Portuguese community resident in the United Kingdom and promised his continued attention and support in defence of their interests.
The Portuguese Prime Minister meanwhile said the result was a sad day for Europe even if the alliance between Portugal and the country should remain intact.
“We have with the United Kingdom the longest standing alliance in the world and this shall continue far beyond whatever comes from the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union,” said Costa before assuring that the government would do “everything to ensure the rights of the Portuguese community in the United Kingdom” while guaranteeing “every right of British citizens that live, visit or invest in Portugal.”
Costa also made a point of stressing the need to respond to the anxieties of citizens that had led to the vote but rejected the notion of a domino effect adding the time was ripe “to give a very clear signal to European citizens that the path is not towards disintegration.”
Accepting that a period of turbulence might be on its way, the prime minister said that Portugal had its state financing in place through to 2017 and that the European Central Bank had already stated its willingness to act to deal with any choppy conditions going forwards.
Algarve tourism chief Desidério Silva and AHETA chairman Elidérico Viegas, have both agreed that a weaker pound will have a negative effect on tourism on what is the region’s biggest tourist market.
The Algarve tourism president added that the Algarve should now look to other markets, such as the German, French and Dutch to compensate for an eventual drop in British tourists.
Desidério Silva adds that the loss in buying power will also be “a negative factor” for Britons living in the Algarve.
Elidérico Viegas meanwhile explained that his association is “concerned with this situation and the instability created around Brexit could have implications, most certainly for companies and the financial results of the region.”
The president of the Portuguese Hotels Association (AHP) has meanwhile said that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will have no impact whatsoever on Portuguese tourism and that those who voted to leave did not travel anyway.
According to Raul Martins, “there will be no consequence for tourism in Portugal.”
In comments to Lusa News Agency, the AHP chief said that Brexit just “moves things from an informal to a formal situation.”
“Britons who are in favour of the exit don’t travel as they are so British that they don’t leave” the UK, Raul Martins told Lusa.
He added that the British tourists who choose to visit will be welcomed just the same, adding that “there won’t be any barriers at customs for UK tourists” and the “British nationals who did not want to leave Europe have held this position for some time already.”
While The Portugal News has learned of at least four potential real estate deals being cancelled by British buyers in the wake of Brexit, Ideal Homes, a real estate company based in the central Algarve, told The Portugal News that it had clinched a major deal with a British buyer within hours of Britain voting to leave the EU.
Chris White, the owner of Ideal Homes, told The Portugal News on Friday afternoon that a property worth €500,000 was sold to a British family shortly after the results came out to show the Leave campaign had won the referendum.
He added that seven other potential buyers from the UK had made appointments on Friday for viewings of properties in the Algarve, while another British buyer had also secured a mortgage to purchase a home.
“To be honest, I was worried about the referendum results, but the business we did today clearly shows that there is still huge interest in property in the Algarve”, Chris White explained.