An official State ceremony to celebrate the 102nd anniversary of the 1910 Republican revolution in Portugal on October 5 was marked by some peculiar incidents that were a real treat for the Portuguese press.
The first incident occurred when the President of the Republic Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who was joined by dozens of dignitaries at the Lisbon Câmara building, hoisted the Portuguese flag and it was upside down. The press was quick to notice and images of the ceremonial slip-up were repeatedly shown on television.
Later, a Portuguese woman had to be forcefully escorted out of the event by security as she insisted on speaking to the President about her life’s hardships. The pensioner claims she cannot survive on €200 a month and felt it important to share her frustrations with the chief of state.
Another woman, an opera singer, began singing loudly during the solemn event in protest of ongoing austerity measures announced by the government.
