Portimão council may soon be naming one of its streets after Maria Barroso, the wife of former President of Portugal Mário Soares, who died this week.
The suggestion was approved by the city hall and forwarded to the municipal topography commission.
The council also agreed to posthumously attribute a ‘municipal gold merit medal’ to the former First Lady, who was born in Fuzeta, Olhão, but whose father was born in the nearby village of Alvor.
“Portimão people hold dear memories of Maria Barroso, who during her stays in the town would be seen speaking to local residents during her trips to Sunday mass, her strolls through the town and to our beaches,” the local authority said in a statement.
The council added that Barroso was an “example to follow” as during “her life she fought for the development of the woman’s role in culture, education, social intervention and politics”.
Maria Barroso died on July 7 at the Cruz Vermelha Hospital in Lisbon. The 90-year-old had entered a coma on June 25 after sustaining a massive brain haemorrhage from a fall at home.
