The delivery of municipal medals on Espiga Day took place this Thursday, the 9th, in the city of Beja.
A solemn session that took place at the end of the morning, at Pax Julia – Teatro Municipal, and rewarded entities and personalities from the municipality.
Four municipal merit medals were awarded. One of Social Merit to Father Henrique, for the work carried out in this area. Another of Cultural Merit, to Francisco Torrão, for the preservation of Alentejo singing. And two more in the Economic Merit category, one to the Alqueva Development and Infrastructure Company (EDIA) and the other to professor João Lopes Baptista, founder of the Alentejo Agricultural and Agrifood Biotechnology Center (CEBAL).
Several medals were also awarded to reward years of work on behalf of the municipality to employees of the municipality, parish councils, as well as employees of the Municipal Water and Sanitation Company of Beja and the Volunteer Firefighters.
The celebrations of Espiga Day, or Ascension Thursday, began this Thursday and will continue until this Friday.
Paulo Arsénio, president of the municipality, in his speech, highlighted that the people distinguished by merit medals “were approved unanimously in a Chamber meeting and by a large majority in the Municipal Assembly”.
Regarding employee medals, Paulo Arsénio revealed that «it is not an automatic award», but that «as a rule» they are automatically awarded. «The medal for good municipal services is not automatically awarded. It is subject to the evaluation of the managers who report to the Executive, whether or not the medals should be awarded, but as a rule they are”, he confessed.
