‘Intolerable’, says president of Portugal after racism against children of Giovanna Ewbank

The racism suffered by the children of the couple Bruno Gagliasso and Giovanna Ewbank at a beach club in Portugal made the president of the European country, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, issue a note condemning this type of act. The text says that “any racist or xenophobic behavior is reprehensible and intolerable, and must be duly punished”.

“It is not worth denying that there are, unfortunately, racist and xenophobic sectors among us”, says the politician, who, however, says he believes that this is a minority that does not represent Portuguese society as a whole.

In the text, he states that the Portuguese are a people “respecting fundamental rights and the dignity of the human person”. “The same will be said, specifically, with regard to the communities of the Portuguese-speaking countries, which have been increasing their presence among us and are a reason for gratitude and pride for Portugal”, he adds.

“Portuguese society is made up of people from the most varied origins, who arrived here a few or many years ago, some for centuries, live here, work, constitute their families: there are no ‘pure Portuguese’, we are all descendants of cultures, very different civilizations and origins”, he says.

“We are all transmigrants, we all have family members and friends who live or have lived outside the physical geographic framework of a country; like so many who find a better life here”, he continues. “And we are all Portugal.”

The note was published on the official website of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic this Monday (1st) and does not name Brazilian artists. However, Rebelo de Sousa even spoke directly about the case in an interview.

“Any act of racism or xenophobia is reprehensible and intolerable”, he commented to the newspaper O Globo, also this Monday. “That’s the basics of a democracy. It’s unacceptable.”

He also praised the attitude of the Brazilian actor, who called the police. “Of course, if the offended person thinks that there was an unconstitutional act, that’s how the democratic state works,” he said. “And the police did what they were supposed to do. In order to investigate whether there is a criminal activity, the authority’s role is to ensure the investigation of the fact to know if there was a violation of the law.”

The case of racism took place at the Clássico Beach Club restaurant, in Costa da Caparica, Portugal, last Saturday (30). Giovanna and Bruno were there with their children, who were playing on the beach, and realized what had happened when one of the children told the story.

Bruno says he saw the manager asking a woman to leave, and then the couple heard her refusing to leave and saying racial insults, such as “filthy blacks”, “go back to Africa”, “go back to Brazil” and “Portugal is no place for you.” The actor immediately called the police, while Giovanna yelled at the woman.