Rui Moreira listens to his friend Rui Veloso at Alandroal. “I really like Alentejo”

Alentejo is a passion for everyone who visits it. And that’s what happened to the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, who traveled a few kilometers to Alandroal to listen to a concert by his childhood friend, Rui Veloso.

“Last night we celebrated the 25th of April in Porto, I got in the car and came down. Rui Veloso was spending the last weekend at my house — we’ve been friends since we were 15, friends from home. As I have a small town in Arraiolos, I decided to bring my wife, my children and grandchildren to see Rui play here during the 25th of April celebrations, in Alandroal, which is a wonderful place”, says Rui Moreira in statements to Campanário Radio.

But visits to Alentejo by the Porto mayor are not new. “My wife has had the house for 20 years. It’s a pile that belonged to my father-in-law. We had a hunting lodge there that we rehabilitated. It’s a small house, between Arraiolos and Pavia.”

“I really like Alentejo, it’s not something recent, it’s a very old love”, guarantees Rui Moreira, adding that he “likes the people a lot, I love Alentejo gastronomy, I like going for walks, I really like Alentejo”. The Alentejo people “are very sincere, I really like Alentejo sincerity, they don’t give people lip service, that’s what I like”.

Interview by Augusta Serrano; Text by Carlos Caldeira