The European Union declared Portugal a full member of the EU Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999, and the nation continues its quest to close the economic gap with the rest of Western Europe. Political integration was furthered during Portugal’s tenure as President of the Council of the European Union in 2007. In 1999, Portugal ceded Macau, its last overseas territory, to the Chinese. Portugal and Indonesia have agreed to cooperate over the reconstruction of East Timor, formerly a Portuguese colony.
Jorge Sampaio returned to the presidency after the January 2001 parliamentary elections, but Socialist prime minister António Guterres resigned in December of 2001, just after overseeing Portugal’s successful transition to the euro. President Sampaio then appointed Social Democrat Jose Manuel Durão Barroso as prime minister. Barroso resigned the post in July 2004 to accept the Presidency of the European Commission. Pedro Santana Lopez, of the same party, took his place but lost the post to José Sócrates, the leader of the Socialist party, in March 2005. The presidential elections of 2006 named Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who had lost to President Sampaio in the 1996 presidential elections, as the next head of state.
In 2004, Portugal hosted the European Football Championship. In preparation, local transportation, such as the Lisboa metro system and national rail lines, was vastly improved. On the other hand, Portugal has encountered challenges to its economy. In 2005, a severe drought hit the Algarve region, hampering agriculture and tourism, which together account for more than 60% of Portugal’s employment. The drought also resulted in uncontrollable wildfires.
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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