Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
totally antagonistic to their presence, even
if they had been willing to consider such an
option. As a result scores of thousands of
ex-colonial Portuguese returned to the
“mother country,” which, for many of
them, was an unfamiliar place of residence
with an unfamiliar way of life to which
they found it difficult to adapt.
Adaptation was, however, far more diffi-
cult for Africans who chose to take up resi-
dence in the territory of their former
overlord. They were driven, in most cases,
by the collapse of the local economy in their
homeland or the continuation of violence
there. In particular, factional or tribal strife
among rival political and ethnic groups
continued almost without interruption after
the end of the colonial regime. Although
not precisely welcomed in Portugal, these
people from the former “overseas prov-
inces” had certain legal claims to enter and
few prospects of finding homes elsewhere.
By 2001 there were some 45,000 immi-
grants from the C
APE
V
ERDE
I
SLANDS
living
in Portugal, as well as 20,000 Angolans and
15,000 from Guinea Bissau (formerly P
OR
-
TUGUESE
G
UINEA
). The total number of
immigrants—aside from Africans, mostly
people from eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union—amounted to nearly 250,000.
When one considers that the population of
Portugal is about 10 million, this is a con-
siderable proportion of aliens to be absorbed.
Inevitably social tensions grew during the
1990s. In L
ISBON
there have been clashes
between Cape Verdian youths and police,
Cape Verdians and white civilians, and Cape
Verdians and blacks from other African col-
onies. Eastern Europeans, for their part,
have been accused of playing a role in the
trafficking of drugs and prostitutes and of
turning Portugal into a participating coun-
try in a growing criminal network stretch-
ing from Russia into western Europe. The
government, however, speaks confidently
of positive achievements in racial and eth-
nic assimilation. Yet one commentator
remarked, “During the diaspora one asked
where are the Portuguese? Now one asks
who are the Portuguese?”
Inquisition
Isabella I (Isabel I, Isabella of
Castile, Isabella the Catholic)
(1451-1504)
queen of Castile, first queen of a united
Spain
Daughter of John (Juan) II of C
ASTILE
by his
second wife, she was not in the immediate
line of succession until the death of her
brother Alfonso and the failure of her half
brother H
ENRY
IV to produce a recognized
legitimate heir. By the time she was 18 Isa-
bella was at the center of a power struggle
between Castilian factions and was pressed
by suitors from Portugal and France. Her
marriage in 1469 to Fernando (F
ERDINAND
V), heir to the throne of A
RAGON
, secured
her position and set the future course of
Spanish history. She claimed the title of
queen on the death of Henry IV but was
still obliged to defeat competitors, and it
was not until her husband became king of
Aragon in 1479 that the couple were truly
rulers of their realms. Isabella and Ferdi-
nand worked together to establish good
order and strong government in Castile
after years of civil war and weak adminis-
tration. A well-functioning central govern-
ment, a royal army, and dominance over
both nobles and clergy were among the
Search WWH ::
Custom Search