Lusophobia

Lusophobia (Portuguese: Lusofobia) is a hostility toward Portugal, a nation occupying the west of the Iberian Peninsula in south-western Europe, its Portuguese people or the Portuguese language and culture. Like Lusitanic, the word derives from Lusitania, the Ancient Roman province that comprised what is nowadays Central and Southern Portugal, and phobia that means "fear" or, more likely, "aversion of". The term is used in Portuguese-speaking countries, and its use in English is almost non-existent. The opposite concept is lusophilia.

Historical background

Brazil

In the nineteenth century, the term Lusophobia was often used to describe nationalist sentiments in Brazil, a former colony of the Portuguese Empire, with Liberal politicians in Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco advocating the reduction of immigrant Portuguese involvement in the Brazilian economy, though almost all were themselves of Portuguese descent. In Rio, the "Jacobinos", a small national radical group, were the strongest opponents of the "Galegos", the Portuguese immigrants, who were (and still are) also the biggest ethnocultural community in Brazil.

In the immediate aftermath of the abdication of Pedro I of Brazil in 1831, in favor of his son Pedro II of Brazil, the poor black people, including slaves, staged anti-Portuguese riots in the streets of Brazil's larger cities.

Today, relations between the two countries are amicable, with a degree of friendly rivalry comparable to that between English-speaking countries such as Britain and the United States, as a way to deal with their shared colonial past. Many Brazilians are used to telling Portuguese jokes (piadas de português), where the Portuguese people and the Portuguese Brazilian community are always referred to as unintelligent people, while the Portuguese also tell the same jokes about Brazilians. Soap opera actress Maitê Proença, commenting in the Brazilian TV comedy show Saia Justa in 2007, became a notable example of a Brazilian public figure who was heavily accused of prejudice against the Portuguese people. Some critics say that this incident reflected the incoming wave of xenophobia over Europe coming to Portugal, with heavy media scrutiny over a trivial matter.

Estado Novo and the Carnation Revolution

Episodes in Portugal's 20th century history, including the long period of dictatorship under António Salazar (the Estado Novo regime), the instability following the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, and the abrupt withdrawal from its overseas empire in 1975, contributed to a negative image of the country, as did the relative lack of economic development of Portugal among its Western European peers, which prompted The Economist in 1980 to describe the country as 'Africa's only colony in Europe'.

United Kingdom

Violence against Portuguese citizens in Britain manifested as hooliganism during the Portuguese hosted Euro 2004 football championship. A number of Portugal national football team fans, including women and children, had to be led to safety after more than 300 people began throwing missiles at a Norfolk pub following England's defeat to Portugal. Police arrested the hooligans after the trouble. The Portuguese fans were trapped inside the pub for more than two hours. Two Portuguese families working in Northern Ireland were also removed from their homes in County Armagh after an allegedly racist attack in August 2004. "The Chairman of the local District Policing Partnership, Jonathan Bell of the Democratic Unionist Party, said the community was outraged at the attacks."

Portugal and the United Kingdom are known for having the oldest alliance in the world. However, when a three-year old British child, Madeleine McCann, disappeared from Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal in May 2007, elements in the UK media became critical of the Portuguese legal system and the authorities investigating the case. Certain comments and comparisons, some possibly lusophobic or xenophobic in nature, may not have been entirely fair because of an incomplete understanding of the specific legal principles involved. Writing in The Guardian, in September 2007, Marcel Berlins called it "a touch of arrogant xenophobia". Tony Parsons and Simon Heffer have been criticized for writing the most xenophobic news articles, e.g. Simon Heffer penned an article asking to boycott Portugal as a holiday destination. However, Heffer's plea was ineffective, as the following months saw an increase of British tourists. “The number of UK tourists increased 8% from January to October 2007, and it means that UK tourists have already answered to the appeal to boycott Portugal as a holiday destination” said Mr. António Pina, chairman of Algarve Tourism Board. Considered a record, the estimates were of 2 million British tourists holidaying in Portugal in 2007. Tony Parsons' column in the Daily Mirror with xenophobic comments received 485 complaints to the Press Complaints Commission, provoking a massive increase in the number of complaints in 2007 to this commission, being the article of 2007 with most complaints.

See also

• Lusophilia
• Lusophone
• Lusitanic
• Black Legend
• Lusotropicalism
• Racism in Portugal
• Simon Heffer
• Tony Parsons