Yesterday’s surprise announcement that 19 parishes within Greater Lisbon were being plunged back into lockdown from next Wednesday has seen Spain’s El Pais daily massively misinterpret the numbers involved.
While they certainly include many thousands of people, El Pais has put on its front page today that 3.1 million are facing a return to rigid confinement.
The Portuguese government has been quick to condemn the paper, which it says ‘should have known better’.
A statement from the ministry of foreign affairs has said that it is to be lamented that a paper of El Pais’ prestige “could publish such falsity”.
The problem seems to be that El Pais took the news to mean ‘the whole of the Greater Lisbon area’.
“On the contrary, the large part of the metropolitan area of Lisbon (with exception of 19 parishes of a total of 118) passes to a new phase of deconfinement (from the State of Calamity to State of Alert)”, says the statement.
El Pais has said it will correct its news item forthwith.
For readers who would like to know every parish involved in the new ‘lockdown’ (to be reviewed mid-July), they are:
Borough of Amadora – every parish
Borough of Odivelas – every parish
Borough of Sintra – parishes of Queluz-Belas; Massamá-Monte Abraão; Agualva-Mira Sintra; Algueirão-Mem Martins; Rio de Moura; Cacém-São Marcos.
Borough of Loures – parishes of Camarate; Unhos; Apelação/ Sacavém-Prior Velho.
Borough of Lisbon – parish of Santa-Clara.
