On the western fringes of Europe, with its face to the Atlantic and its toes tipped in Africa Lisbon, has always done things its own way with more than a whiff of graceful solemnity. Arriving in the city it certainly feels as though this ‘Old’ European capital has skipped a century or two. While Paris flaunts its chic and Barcelona revels in architectural aplomb, understated Lisbon seems to have relished being on the sidelines, perennially cast in the role of Spain’s poor relation. But it’s this defining nonchalance that hypnotizes both artful flâneurs and lazy hedonists. Nothing quite sums up Lisbon’s quirky, phlegmatic status like the bloodless revolution of 1974. So laid back were the revolutionaries that while making their final advance on the capital they stopped their tanks at a red traffic light. For all its apparent lackadaisical charm, 21st-century Lisbon is in the throes of another revolution, and it’s a far cry from the despairing metropolis of Wim Wenders’ 1988 movie, Lisbon Story. At every turn it appears the city is blazing a trail. It all began with Expo 98 and the construction of its Calatrava-designed stage, charismatic Parque das Nações, where sun glimmers on steel and creative brio meets post-modern vision. Lisbon’s got a new swagger and celebrity status but most significant of all for Lisboetas is that their city, which always sought solace from the sea, has once again turned towards the water. From where Vasco da Gama set sail for India, glitzy cruise ships loll alongside sleek warehouses, furnished with a style to rival London or Milan. And all just in time to host its next big party – Euro 2004. Viewed from any of Lisbon’s high-altitude miradouros, the city spreads out below in an architectural pastiche, a juxtaposition of modernism and traditionalism, taste and tack, the monstrous and the magnificent. While art deco curves and art nouveau swirls rub harmoniously against one another, if you whisper the word ‘Amoreiras’ most Lisboetas will flinch unequivocally. The work of polemical architect Tomás Taveira, this chunky, brash, shopping centre thrust its way incongruously onto the skyline in the 1980s, heralding the dawn of a new and conspicuous consumption. Having been labelled in the 15th century as the greatest empire of its time and then denigrated in the 20th as Europe’s underachieving Third World nation, it’s not surprising that the Portuguese psyche has taken a battering. Ravaged by earthquake, razed by fire and cocooned in the padded cell of nearly half a century’s worth of dictatorship, Portugal has long been experiencing an identity crisis. But the current centre-right government, with Jose Manuel Durão Barrosa at the helm, has recently been relishing its growing stature on the world stage. In 1999 Portugal was saluted internationally for its smooth handover of the former colony Macau to China and its role in the reconstruction of an independent East Timor. With a bolstered sense of pride, 2003 has seen Portugal keenly embracing its role in President Bush’s ‘New’ Europe. In the aftermath of the recent Gulf War, Barrosa committed some 150 national guard troops and aid provisions to the reconstruction of Iraq, a policy which proved controversial at home but obviously scored points with the US. Despite an acute funding crisis and the legacy of a totalitarian regime, a throbbing creativity pulsates through the city’s artistic communities. From contemporary architecture and the performing arts to fashion and experimental music, Lisbon’s hotbed of creative talent is gaining international recognition. Young, irreverent Bairro Alto fashion designers are showing their collections on the catwalks of London, Paris and Milan and contemporary artists like Paula Rego, the first artist-in-residence at London’s National Gallery in 1990, are exhibited in galleries worldwide. And celebrity culture, epitomized by the unassailable popularity of Portugal’s Big Brother, is nevertheless berated by older generations as the most potent symbol of declining traditional values and polluted sense of national identity. In coffee shops across the city you’ll still hear Lisboetas longing for the days of Salazar when fado, football and Fátima were the unifying national obsessions. If, as the saying goes, hemlines follow the economy, things are definitely on the up. Since joining the EU in 1988, and bidding adeus to the escudo in 2000, Portugal has received millions of dollars in aid from EU grants. The catch 22 has been that as a result of Portugal’s increased financial buoyancy it no longer qualifies for EU subsidies and in 2001 the public deficit spiralled to 4.1% of GDP. Keeping up with the Joãos was big in the 90s. Debt went through the roof as gadget-crazy Lisboetas yearning for desirable consumer durables, most notably mobile phones and cars, went on a spending frenzy. But since 2002, Barroso’s government has pushed through unpopular measures, including a rise in sales tax, which has helped cut the public deficit forecasts for 2004 to an estimated 2.8% of GDP. However, Lisbon’s soaring Euro-capital kudos belies bleaker undercurrents. In graceless suburbs breeze-block housing breeds a subculture of crime, violence and HIV. Portugal has the highest rate of HIV infection in the EU and is the only nation where rates of infection are on the rise. Most worrying of all, the highly drug- resistant HIV subtype G, which was previously thought to exist only in Africa, was recently discovered in Portugal. Racism also remains an acute problem and Portugal’s vast immigrant population came under the spotlight in October 2003, when Time magazine’s cover story entitled “When the Meninas came to town”, depicted medieval, traditional Bragança in Northern Portugal as “Europe’s new red light district”, following an investigation into the influx of Brazilian prostitutes to the area. The story was a bombshell for Lisbon’s Euro 2004 PR campaign. Lisbon’s allure has always been its intimacy, its secrets yielded to the errant wanderer. While the city’s medieval kernels still intrigue, its time-honoured rituals enchant and its architectural glories mesmerize, 21st-century Lisbon is laced with a dynamism which has redrawn the skyline, improved infrastructure and provided the city with a much-needed ego boost. While the city embarks on a road less travelled, Lisboetas are shedding their vintage woes and melancholy slough and facing up to the challenges of the future.
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Lisbon - £5.99
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