The former prime minister and former president of the European Commission married Joana Gonçalves at the private São João do Arade Castle in Ferragudo.

According to Correio da Manhã newspaper, Manuel Durão Barroso, former Portuguese prime minister and former president of the European Commission, married 51-year-old children’s book illustrator Joana Gonçalves in the Algarve last Saturday.

This is the 67-year-old politician’s second wedding, who was widowed in 2016 following the death of his first wife, Margarida Sousa Uva, with whom he had three children.

The small ceremony, attended by some 50 “family members and very close friends of the couple”, took place at the São João do Arade Castle.

The Castle, also known as Ferragudo Castle or São João Fort, is a military monument that originally served to control and defend the Arade Estuary. It was classified as a “Property of Public Interest” in 1974 and is owned by businessman and friend of the groom Vasco Pereira Coutinho.