During a commemorative session of the November 25, 1975 event at the Assembly of the Republic, marking its 50th anniversary, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa quoted the Bruges Letter written by Prince Pedro approximately 600 years ago, arguing that many of the issues from then persist today.
The head of state noted that in this letter, the prince highlighted virtues absent in the kingdom, such as “justice,” “prudence, particularly financial prudence,” which was considered “very scarce,” and “fortitude,” related to the depopulation of the land—what today would be referred to as demographics, including immigration.
“There was also the urgency of distributing vassals,” stated at the time, “across the counties, instead of concentrating them on the coast—which means public administration reform and its decentralization,” he added.
“Thus, Prince Pedro, who journeyed through Southern, Central, Northern, and even Eastern Europe, already spoke of depopulation, immigration, administrative reform, the need for decentralization, the sluggishness of justice, and public and private financial spending,” the President of the Republic noted.
To the question “what does this ancient letter have to do with November 25,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa answered that “it’s easy to understand” its connection “with Portugal from 50 years ago or today.”
“Many of the problems from then are still those of half a century ago or today,” the head of state asserted.
In his speech, which lasted about fifteen minutes, the President of the Republic did not expand further on these topics and emphasized the idea of “temperance as a national virtue,” also from Prince Pedro’s letter, which he associated with November 25.
