Cape Verde and Loulé want to develop joint projects

Cape Verde and the municipality of Loulé want to develop joint projects in the areas of culture, tourism, literature, art galleries and carnival, the two parties announced this Monday, during a visit by a delegation from the Algarve City Council to the archipelago.

"There's a program called Loulé Criativo that we believe can be implemented in Cape Verde because it combines culture and tourism and works directly with the people . We believe we can develop partnerships, particularly with the Loulé Carnival and with those in Cape Verde, especially in São Vicente, São Nicolau, and Praia, which are the strongest," stated the Minister of Culture, Augusto Veiga.

The minister also highlighted the interest in cooperation in literature and art galleries , stressing that Loulé “is an extremely cultural municipality” with a strong presence of the Cape Verdean community.

"Due to its proximity and the very old community that exists in this municipality, we believe it can be an asset for Cape Verde," he added.

The mayor of Loulé, Vítor Aleixo, recalled that the municipality “takes great care of its cultural and historical identity” and is “ very open to the world ”, benefiting for decades from the contribution of various migrant communities, including the Cape Verdean one, “the oldest established”.

"The children of Cape Verdeans made a great contribution to the development of the municipality and are now fully integrated . It's a highly esteemed community, bringing music, dance, batuco, funaná, morna, and coladeira. This year, we're aiming for literature, visual arts, and ceramics," he stated.

Vítor Aleixo also argued that, "in a global political context where doors and windows are once again being closed, the great struggle is to maintain and cultivate a good level of cultural exchange and cooperation."

The Loulé delegation will spend three days in Cape Verde for institutional meetings and visits to historical and cultural landmarks on the island of Santiago, as well as learning about projects and programs developed in the country.