Lusophobia () is a hostility toward Portugal, the Portuguese people or the Portuguese language. Like Lusitanic, the word derives from Lusitania, an Ancient Roman province, and phobia that means "fear". The term is used in Portuguese-speaking countries, and its use in the English language has been limited.

Historical background

Brazil

In the nineteenth century, the term Lusophobia was often used to describe nationalist sentiments in Brazil, a former colony of the Portuguese Empire, with Liberal politicians in Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco advocating the reduction of immigrant Portuguese involvement in the Brazilian economy, though most were of Portuguese descent.^[1] In Rio, the "Jacobinos", a small national radical group, were the strongest opponents of the "Galegos", the Portuguese immigrants, who were also the biggest immigrant community in Brazil.^[2]

In the immediate aftermath of Pedro I of Brazil abdication in 1831, in favor of his son Pedro II of Brazil, the poor black people, including slaves, staged anti-Portuguese riots in the streets of Brazil's larger cities.^[3]

Today, relations between the two countries are amicable, with a degree of friendly rivalry comparable to that between English-speaking countries such as Britain and the United States.

Australia

After Portugal abruptly withdrew from East Timor in 1975, the following brutal Indonesian invasion and annexation of East Timor, supported by Australian government, also gave rise to anti-Portuguese sentiment in Australia, including people sympathetic to East Timor's struggle. ^[4] While successive Australian governments supported the Indonesian occupation, the status quo, twenty four years of conflict,^[5] and subsequent massacre,^[6] Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking African countries maintained a diplomatic campaign in support of East Timor's right to self-determination, and East Timor has been an independent country since May 20, 2002. During the crisis in 2006, Australian commentators attacked Portuguese involvement in East Timor, with one labeling Portugal as Australia's "diplomatic enemy." ^[7]

United Kingdom

During the Euro 2004 football championship, which was hosted and organized in Portugal, a number of Portugal national football team fans had to be led to safety after more than 300 people began throwing missiles at a Norfolk pub following England's Euro 2004 defeat. Police arrested the hooligans after the trouble outside the Portuguese-run pub. The Portuguese fans - including women and children - were trapped inside the pub for more than two hours.^[8]

In the UK, two Portuguese families working in Northern Ireland, were moved from their homes in Armagh after a racist attack in August 2004. "The Chairman of the local District Policing Partnership, Jonathan Bell of the Democratic Unionist Party, said the community was outraged.".^[9]

Portugal and Great Britain are known for having the oldest alliance in the world. However, when a three year old British child, Madeleine McCann, disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal, elements in the UK media became critical of the Portuguese legal system and the authorities investigating the case. Certain comments and comparisons, some possibly lusophobic or xenophobic in nature, may not have been entirely fair because of an incomplete understanding of the specific legal principles involved. Writing in The Guardian, in September 2007, Marcel Berlins called it "a touch of arrogant xenophobia".^[10]

Tony Parsons and Simon Heffer have been criticized for writing the most xenophobic news articles. Simon Heffer article asking to boycott Portugal, as a holiday destination. saw an increase of British tourists. ?The number of UK tourists increased 8 %, from January to October 2007 and it means that UK tourists have already answered to the appeal to boycott Portugal, as a holiday destination? said Mr. António Pina, chairman of Algarve Tourism Board.^[11][12] Considered a record, the estimates were of 2 million British tourists holidaying in Portugal in 2007.^[13]

Tony Parsons' column in the Daily Mirror with xenophobic comments received 485 complaints to the PCC, provoking a massive increase in the number of complaints in 2007 to this commission, being the article of 2007 with most complaints. ^{[14] [15]}

No category

Episodes in Portugal's 20th century history, including the long period of dictatorship under António Salazar, the instability following the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, and the abrupt withdrawal from its overseas empire in 1975, contributed to a negative image of the country, as did the relative lack of economic development of Portugal among its Western European peers, which prompted The Economist in 1980 to describe the country as 'Africa's only colony in Europe'.^[16]

References

See also

• Lusophilia
• Lusophone
• Lusitanic
• Black Legend
• Lusotropicalism

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