Centro Region, Portugal
The Centro Region or Central Portugal is one of the statistical regions of Portugal. The cities with major administrative status inside this region are Coimbra, Viseu, Castelo Branco, Covilhã and Guarda, it is one of the seven Regions of Portugal. It is one of the regions of Europe, as given by the European Union for statistical and geographical purposes, its area totals 28,462 km2. As of 2011, its population totalled 2,327,026 inhabitants, with a population density of 82 inhabitants per square kilometre. Inhabited by the Lusitanians, an Indo-European people living in the western Iberian Peninsula, the Romans settled in the region and colonized it as a part of the Roman Province of Lusitânia; the Roman town of Conímbriga, near Coimbra, is among the most noted and well-preserved remains of that period. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Visigoths were the main rulers and colonizers from the 5th to the 8th century. In the 8th century, the Muslim conquest of Iberia turned the region a Muslim-dominated territory.
In the earliest years of the Christian Reconquista, just before the rise of a Portuguese national identity, the region was a battleplace for Muslim Moors and Christian crusaders. Once the Moors were expelled, the Christian kings and landlords made the region a county, called the County of Coimbra, it was integrated into the newly created Condado Portucalensis, the early precursor of the modern nation of Portugal. The modern region matches up with the boundaries of the historical Beira Province, as well as the Oeste in former Estremadura and Médio Tejo in former Ribatejo. Beira was an historical province of Portugal and its name was used by the heirs to the Portuguese throne during the monarchy period, before 1910; the princes were known as the Princes of Beira. Along the region’s mountainous border with Spain are a series of fortresses and castles that once protected the country from its many invaders. Over the centuries, Christians and Portuguese have all tried to take these villages, but their higher elevations gave them a distinct advantage.
On that border, the more than one dozen fortified frontier villages beckon today’s visitors to come explore a 900-year history — full of the heroism, epic battles and romance upon which Portugal struggled to become a nation. Today, Portugal boasts the longest-standing border in all of Europe. In these rural border villages, ancient rituals and religious festivals remain popular. Visitors can sample them and partake in the traditional foods of that area, such as cheese and mountain honey. In the fortress town of Almeida, a walk through the narrow cobbled streets can lead a visitor to the ruins of a once mighty 12-pointed fortress. One of Portugal’s many Pousadas— an historic property turned into an inn— is located in Almeida. In the town of Castelo Rodrigo, a memorial stone marks the place of a fierce battle in 1664, visitors can view the remains of the castle and its keep, as well as a palace; the town has a small Gothic church. Near Castelo Mendo stands an intricate stone bridge built by the Romans.
Most of the castles in this border region of Centro are classified as national monuments. These stone fortresses date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Castles, or parts of castles, still stand at Alfaiates, Vilar Maior, Castelo Mendo, Castelo Bom, Castelo Rodrigo, Monsanto and Almeida. A 20-castle route has been delineated by the Portugal government, of which Sortelha, Castelo Mendo, Castelo Rodrigo and the fortified town of Almeida are considered gems among them all; the Centro is a region of diversified landscapes. The interior is mountainous with some plateaus, dominated by the Serra da Estrela mountain; the region is plentiful of chestnut trees forests. The green, rugged landscape of this region is crisscrossed by rivers. Several river valleys at the foot of the mountains have a full bodied charm that draw one to outdoor activities like hiking, fishing and canoeing. In the Winter season, skiing on Serra da Estrela is a popular activity, but in some places, like near the town of Seia, skiing before the Winter season is possible due to artificial snow infrastructures.
The coastal plain has several beaches, like the ones of Mira, Figueira da Foz, Ílhavo, Nazaré, Peniche and São Martinho do Porto. Natural landmarks in this region are the Serra da Estrela mountain range, with its Serra da Estrela Natural Park, the Mondego river, the Aveiro Lagoon and the coastal beaches; the largest urban centres include Coimbra, Fátima, Viseu, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Figueira da Foz, Pombal, Abrantes, Torres Vedras, Torres Novas, Águeda and Caldas da Rainha. The region is divided in eight sub-regions: Beira Baixa Beiras e Serra da Estrela Médio Tejo Oeste Região de Aveiro Região de Coimbra Região de Leiria Viseu Dão Lafões One of Portugal's richest regions by the abundance of natural streams of water, arable land and its long coast line, the Centro region has some of the most economically dynamic and densely populated municipalities of the country. Excellent transportation links with the Lisbon Metropolitan Area to the south and the Porto Metropolitan Area to the north, making ocean and motorway access possible via containers, have all contributed to making manufacturing the principal industry, found in the littoral strip, one of the largest industrialized areas in Portugal.
Important products such as motor vehicles, electrical appliances, machinery and paper are produced there. Higher edu
Dutch people
Dutch people or the Dutch are a Germanic ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Aruba, Guyana, Curaçao, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the United States; the Low Countries were situated around the border of France and the Holy Roman Empire, forming a part of their respective peripheries, the various territories of which they consisted had become autonomous by the 13th century. Under the Habsburgs, the Netherlands were organised into a single administrative unit, in the 16th and 17th centuries the Northern Netherlands gained independence from Spain as the Dutch Republic; the high degree of urbanization characteristic of Dutch society was attained at a early date. During the Republic the first series of large-scale Dutch migrations outside of Europe took place; the Dutch have left behind a substantial legacy despite the limited size of their country. The Dutch people are seen as the pioneers of capitalism, their emphasis on a modern economy, a free market had a huge influence on the great powers of the West the British Empire, its Thirteen Colonies, the United States.
The traditional arts and culture of the Dutch encompasses various forms of traditional music, architectural styles and clothing, some of which are globally recognizable. Internationally, Dutch painters such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh are held in high regard; the dominant religion of the Dutch was Christianity, although in modern times the majority are no longer religious. Significant percentages of the Dutch are adherents of humanism, atheism or individual spirituality; as with all ethnic groups, the ethnogenesis of the Dutch has been a complex process. Though the majority of the defining characteristics of the Dutch ethnic group have accumulated over the ages, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact emergence of the Dutch people; the text below hence focuses on the history of the Dutch ethnic group. For Dutch colonial history, see the article on the Dutch Empire. In the first centuries CE, the Germanic tribes formed tribal societies with no apparent form of autocracy, beliefs based Germanic paganism and speaking a dialect still resembling Common Germanic.
Following the end of the migration period in the West around 500, with large federations settling the decaying Roman Empire, a series of monumental changes took place within these Germanic societies. Among the most important of these are their conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity, the emergence of a new political system, centered on kings, a continuing process of emerging mutual unintelligibility of their various dialects; the general situation described above is applicable to most if not all modern European ethnic groups with origins among the Germanic tribes, such as the Frisians, Germans and the North-Germanic peoples. In the Low Countries, this phase began when the Franks, themselves a union of multiple smaller tribes, began to incur the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire. In 358, the Salian Franks, one of the three main subdivisions among the Frankish alliance settled the area's Southern lands as foederati. Linguistically Old Frankish or Low Franconian evolved into Old Dutch, first attested in the 6th century, whereas religiously the Franks converted to Christianity from around 500 to 700.
On a political level, the Frankish warlords abandoned tribalism and founded a number of kingdoms culminating in the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne. However, the population make-up of the Frankish Empire, or early Frankish kingdoms such as Neustria and Austrasia, was not dominated by Franks. Though the Frankish leaders controlled most of Western Europe, the Franks themselves were confined to the Northwestern part of the Empire; the Franks in Northern France were assimilated by the general Gallo-Roman population, took over their dialects, whereas the Franks in the Low Countries retained their language, which would evolve into Dutch. The current Dutch-French language border has remained identical since, could be seen as marking the furthest pale of gallicization among the Franks; the medieval cities of the Low Countries, which experienced major growth during the 11th and 12th century, were instrumental in breaking down the relatively loose local form of feudalism. As they became powerful, they used their economical strength to influence the politics of their nobility.
During the early 14th century, beginning in and inspired by the County of Flanders, the cities in the Low Countries gained huge autonomy and dominated or influenced the various political affairs of the fief, including marriage succession. While the cities were of great political importance, they formed catalys
Black Madonna
The term Black Madonna or Black Virgin refers to statues or paintings of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which she, the infant Jesus, are depicted with black or dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found in Catholic and Orthodox countries; the statues or paintings are wooden but stone painted and up to 75 cm tall. They fall into two main groups: free-standing upright figures or seated figures on a throne; the pictures are icons which are Byzantine in style made in 13th- or 14th-century Italy. There are about 400-500 Black Madonnas depending on how they are classified. There are at least 180 Vierges Noires in France, there are hundreds of non-medieval copies as well; some are in museums. A few are attract substantial numbers of pilgrims. Important early studies of dark images in France were done by Marie Durand-Lefebvre, Emile Saillens, Jacques Huynen; the first notable study of the origin and meaning of the Black Madonnas in English appears to have been presented by Leonard Moss at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on December 28, 1952.
Moss broke the images into three categories: dark brown or black Madonnas with physiognomy and skin pigmentation matching that of the indigenous population. In the cathedral at Chartres, there were two Black Madonnas: Notre Dame de Pilar, a 1508 dark walnut copy of a 13th-century silver Madonna, standing atop a high pillar, surrounded by candles. Restoration work on the cathedral resulted in the painting of Notre Dame de Pilar, to reflect an earlier 19th century painted style, rendering the statue no longer a "Black Madonna". Algeria, Algiers: "Our Lady of Africa" Senegal, Popenguine: "Notre-Dame de la Délivrance", South Africa, Soweto: "The Black Madonna", Tsuruoka city, Yamagata prefecture: Tsuruoka Tenshudô Catholic Church features a black Madonna statue given by France during Meiji period Antipolo, Rizal: Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje de Antipolo Ermita, City of Manila: Nuestra Señora de Guia Lapu-Lapu, Cebu: Nuestra Señora de la Regla Naga, Camarines Sur: Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia Piat, Cagayan: Nuestra Señora de la Visitación de Piat Joroan, Albay: Mater Salutis Brugge, "Our Lady of Regla" Brussels: "De Zwerte Lieve Vrouwo", St. Catherine Church Halle: Sint-Martinusbasiliek Liège: La Vierge Noire d'Outremeuse, Lier: Onze lieve vrouw ter Gratien Scherpenheuvel-Zichem: Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel Tournai: Our Lady of Flanders in Tournai Cathedral Verviers: "Black Virgin of the Recollects", Notre-Dame des Récollets Church, Walcourt: Hidden church of the Black Madonna, Vamos Marija Bistrica: Our Lady of Bistrica, Queen of Croatia Brno: Assumption of Virgin Mary Minor Basilica, St Thomas's Abbey, Brno Prague: The Madonna of Breznice.
Aix-en-Provence,: Notre-Dame des Graces, Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix Arconsat: Aurillac,: Notre-Dame des Neiges Beaune: Our Lady of Beaune Besançon: Our Lady de Gray Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise,: Saint-André Church, Notre-Dame de Vassivière Bourg-en-Bresse,: 13th century Chartres,: crypt of the Cathedral of Chartres, Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre Clermont-Ferrand, Cusset: the Black Virgin of Cusset Dijon, Douvres-la-Délivrande, Basilique Notre-Dame de la Délivrande, "Notre-Dame de la Délivrande" Dunkerque,: Chapelle des Dunes Guingamp,: Basilica of Notre Dame de Bon Secours. La Chapelle-Geneste, (Haute-Loire: Notre Dame de La Chapelle Geneste Laon,: Notre-Dame Cathedral, statue of 1848 Le Havre,: statue near the Graville Abbey Le Puy-en-Velay: In 1254 when passing through on his return from the Holy Land Saint Louis IX of France gave the cathedral an ebony image of the Blessed Virgin clothed in gold brocade, it was destroyed during the Revolution, but replaced at the Restoration with a copy that continues to be venerated.
Liesse-Notre-Dame,: Notre-Dame de Liesse, statue destroyed in 1793, copy of 1857 Marseille,: Notre-Dame-de-Confession, Abbey of St. Victor.
Grotto
A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, or prehistorically. Occurring grottoes are small caves near water that are flooded or liable to flood at high tide. Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden features; the Grotta Azzurra at Capri and the grotto at the villa of Tiberius in the Bay of Naples are examples of popular natural seashore grottoes. Whether in tidal water or high up in hills, grottoes are made up of limestone geology, where the acidity of standing water has dissolved the carbonates in the rock matrix as it passes through what were small fissures. See karst topography, cavern; the word grotto comes from Italian grotta, Vulgar Latin grupta, Latin crypta. It is related by a historical accident to the word grotesque. In the late 15th century, Romans accidentally unearthed Nero's Domus Aurea on the Palatine Hill, a series of rooms, decorated with designs of garlands, slender architectural framework and animals; the rooms had sunk underground over time.
The Romans who discovered this historical monument found it strange because it was uncovered from an "underworld" source. This led the Romans of that era to give it the name grottesca, from. Grottoes were popular in Greek and Roman culture. Spring-fed grottoes were a feature of Apollo's oracles at Delphi and Clarus; the Hellenistic city of Rhodes was designed with rock-cut artificial grottoes incorporated into the city, made to look natural. At the great Roman sanctuary of Praeneste south of Rome, the oldest portion of the primitive sanctuary was situated on the second lowest terrace, in a grotto in the natural rock where a spring developed into a well. According to tradition, Praeneste's sacred spring had a native nymph, honored in a grotto-like watery nymphaeum. Tiberius, the Roman emperor, filled his grotto with sculptures to create a sense of mythology channeling Polyphemus' cave in the Odyssey; the numinous quality of the grotto is still more ancient: in a grotto near Knossos in Crete, Eileithyia was venerated before Minoan palace-building.
Farther back in time, the immanence of the divine in a grotto is seen in the sacred caves of Lascaux. The popularity of artificial grottoes introduced the Mannerist style to Italian and French gardens of the mid-16th century. Two famous grottoes in the Boboli Gardens of Palazzo Pitti were begun by Vasari and completed by Ammanati and Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593. One of these grottoes housed the Prisoners of Michelangelo. Before the Boboli grotto, a garden was laid out by Niccolò Tribolo at the Medici Villa Castello, near Florence. At Pratolino, in spite of the dryness of the site, there was a Grotto of Cupid, with water tricks for the unsuspecting visitor; the Fonte di Fata Morgana at Grassina, not far from Florence, is a small garden building, built in 1573–4 as a garden feature in the extensive grounds of the Villa "Riposo" of Bernardo Vecchietti. It is decorated with sculptures in the Giambolognan manner; the outsides of garden grottoes are designed to look like an enormous rock, a rustic porch or a rocky overhang.
Inside, they are decorated as a temple or with fountains and imitation gems and shells. Damp grottoes were cool places to retreat from the Italian sun, but they became fashionable in the cool drizzle of the Île-de-France. In Kuskovo in the Sheremetev estate there is a Summer Grotto, built in 1775. Grottoes could serve as baths. Courtiers once bathed in the small cascade that splashed over the pebbles and shells encrusted in the floor and walls. Grottoes have served as chapels, or at Villa Farnese at Caprarola, a little theater designed in the grotto manner, they were combined with cascading fountains in Renaissance gardens. The grotto designed by Bernard Palissy for Catherine de' Medici's château in Paris, the Tuileries, was renowned. There are grottoes in the gardens designed by André Le Nôtre for Versailles. In England, an early garden grotto was built at Wilton House in the 1630s by Isaac de Caus. Grottoes were suitable for less formal gardens too. Pope's Grotto, created by Alexander Pope, is all that survives of one of the first landscape gardens in England, at Twickenham.
Pope was inspired after seeing grottoes in Italy during a visit there. Efforts are under way to restore his grotto. There are grottoes in the landscape gardens of Painshill Park, Clandon Park and Stourhead. Scott's Grotto is a series of interconnected chambers, extending 67 ft into the chalk hillside on the outskirts of Ware, Hertfordshire. Built during the late 18th century, the chambers and tunnels are lined with shells and pieces of coloured glass; the Romantic generation of tourists might not visit Fingal's Cave, on the remote isle of Staffa in the Scottish Hebrides, but they have heard of it through Felix Mendelssohn's "Hebrides Overture", better known as "Fingal's Cave", inspired by his visit. In the 19th century, when miniature Matterhorns and rock-gardens became fashionable, a grotto was found, such as at Ascott House. In Bavaria, Ludwig's Linderhof contains an abstraction of the grotto under Venusberg, which figured in Wagner's Tannhäuser. Although grottoes have fallen from fashion since the British Pic
19th century
The 19th century was a century that began on January 1, 1801, ended on December 31, 1900. It is used interchangeably with the 1800s, though the start and end dates differ by a year; the 19th century saw large amounts of social change. European imperialism brought much of Asia and all of Africa under colonial rule, it was marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Zulu Kingdom, Holy Roman and Mughal empires. This paved the way for the growing influence of the British Empire, the Russian Empire, the United States, the German Empire, the French colonial empire and Meiji Japan, with the British boasting unchallenged dominance after 1815. After the defeat of the French Empire and its allies in the Napoleonic Wars, the British and Russian empires expanded becoming the world's leading powers; the Russian Empire expanded in central and far eastern Asia. The British Empire grew in the first half of the century with the expansion of vast territories in Canada, South Africa and populated India, in the last two decades of the century in Africa.
By the end of the century, the British Empire controlled a fifth of the world's land and one quarter of the world's population. During the post-Napoleonic era, it enforced what became known as the Pax Britannica, which had ushered in unprecedented globalization and economic integration on a massive scale; the first electronics appeared in the 19th century, with the introduction of the electric relay in 1835, the telegraph and its Morse code protocol in 1837, the first telephone call in 1876, the first functional light bulb in 1878. The 19th century was an era of accelerating scientific discovery and invention, with significant developments in the fields of mathematics, chemistry, biology and metallurgy that laid the groundwork for the technological advances of the 20th century; the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain and spread to continental Europe, North America and Japan. The Victorian era was notorious for the employment of young children in factories and mines, as well as strict social norms regarding modesty and gender roles.
Japan embarked on a program of rapid modernization following the Meiji Restoration, before defeating China, under the Qing Dynasty, in the First Sino-Japanese War. Advances in medicine and the understanding of human anatomy and disease prevention took place in the 19th century, were responsible for accelerating population growth in the western world. Europe's population doubled during the 19th century, from 200 million to more than 400 million; the introduction of railroads provided the first major advancement in land transportation for centuries, changing the way people lived and obtained goods, fuelling major urbanization movements in countries across the globe. Numerous cities worldwide surpassed populations of a million or more during this century. London became capital of the British Empire, its population increased from 1 million in 1800 to 6.7 million a century later. The last remaining undiscovered landmasses of Earth, including vast expanses of interior Africa and Asia, were explored during this century, with the exception of the extreme zones of the Arctic and Antarctic and detailed maps of the globe were available by the 1890s.
Liberalism became the pre-eminent reform movement in Europe. Slavery was reduced around the world. Following a successful slave revolt in Haiti and France stepped up the battle against the Barbary pirates and succeeded in stopping their enslavement of Europeans; the UK's Slavery Abolition Act charged the British Royal Navy with ending the global slave trade. The first colonial empire in the century to abolish slavery was the British, who did so in 1834. America's 13th Amendment following their Civil War abolished slavery there in 1865, in Brazil slavery was abolished in 1888. Serfdom was abolished in Russia; the 19th century was remarkable in the widespread formation of new settlement foundations which were prevalent across North America and Australia, with a significant proportion of the two continents' largest cities being founded at some point in the century. Chicago in the United States and Melbourne in Australia were non-existent in the earliest decades but grew to become the 2nd largest cities in the United States and British Empire by the end of the century.
In the 19th century 70 million people left Europe, with most migrating to the United States. The 19th century saw the rapid creation and codification of many sports in Britain and the United States. Association football, rugby union and many other sports were developed during the 19th century, while the British Empire facilitated the rapid spread of sports such as cricket to many different parts of the world. Ladywear was a sensitive topic during this time, where women showing their ankles was viewed to be scandalous, it marks the fall of the Ottoman rule of the Balkans which led to the creation of Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania as a result of the second Russo-Turkish War, which in itself followed the great Crimean War. Industrial revolution European Imperialism British Regency, Victorian era Bourbon Restoration, July Monarchy, French Second Republic, Second French Empire, French Third Republic Belle Époque Edo period, Meiji period Qing dynasty Joseon dynasty Zulu Kingdom Tanzimat, First C
Kielmeyera coriacea
Kielmeyera coriacea is a medicinal plant native to Cerrado and Pantanal vegetation in Brazil. In addition, this plant is used as a honey plant. Por, F. D.. The Pantanal of Mato Grosso: World's Largest Wetlands. Springer. ISBN 0-7923-3481-7. Raffauf, Robert F.. Plant Alkaloids: A Guide to Their Discovery and Distribution. Food Products Press. ISBN 1-56022-860-1. ScienceDirect — Fitoterapia: Preliminary evaluation of Kielmeyera coriacea leaves extract on the central nervous system Antibacterial Activity of a Biphenyl and Xanthones from Kielmeyera coriacea — Pharmaceutical Biology
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from the Portuguese Socialist Action; the PS is one of the two major parties in Portuguese politics, its rival being the centre-right Social Democratic Party. The current leader of the PS is the Prime Minister of Portugal; the party has 86 of 230 seats in the Portuguese Parliament following the October 2015 election, forming a minority government. PS is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists, has eight members in the European Parliament within the Socialists & Democrats Group during the eighth parliament; the Socialist Party was created at a conference of Portuguese Socialist Action, at that time in exile, on 19 April 1973, in Bad Münstereifel in West Germany. The twenty-seven delegates decided to found a party of socialism and freedom, making an explicit reference to a classless society and without Marxism, redesigned as a source of principal inspiration.
On 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution brought down the authoritarian regime of the Estado Novo, established in 1933, democracy was restored. The general secretary of the PS, Mário Soares, returned to Portugal after being in exile in France, became Minister of Foreign Affairs, António de Almeida Santos was appointed Minister of Interjurisdictional Coordination in one of the first provisional governments. After the Revolution, elections were called for 25 April 1975 and the Socialist Party won the 1975 election for the Constituent Assembly and the 1976 elections for the National Assembly losing to the Democratic Alliance in the 1979 legislative election. In 1980, the PS made an electoral alliance called the Republican and Socialist Front, between the Independent Social Democrats, led by Sousa Franco, the Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy, led by Lopes Cardoso; the alliance failed to defeat the AD. They won the 1983 general election, but without an absolute majority, the Socialists formed a grand coalition with the centre-right Social Democratic Party, creating a "Central Block".
The new government began negotiations for Portugal to enter the European Economic Community. In 1985 the Central Block broke down and the PS at the time led by Almeida Santos, lost the 1985 legislative election. Cavaco Silva's PSD won the 1985 elections and again in 1991 with absolute majority; the PS was in opposition for more than ten years. In 1995, the Socialist Party led by António Guterres, won a general election for the first time in twelve years, in 1999, they failed to obtain what would have been an historic absolute majority for the party by only one MP. In 2001, after a massive defeat in the 2001 local elections, António Guterres resigned as Prime Minister and called for new elections in 2002; the Socialist Party lost the 2002 general election by a small margin to the PSD, who formed a coalition government with the People's Party. In June 2004, the PS won the 2004 European elections by a landslide, a few weeks Durão Barroso, leader of the PSD and Prime Minister, resigned to become President of the European Commission.
In December 2004, Jorge Sampaio, President of the Republic, called fresh elections for February 2005. These elections resulted in a landslide victory for the PS, winning for the first time since its foundation an absolute majority. José Sócrates, leader of the PS, became Prime Minister. In 2009, after four-and-a-half years in power, the PS lost the European Parliament elections to the PSD. However, they won the general election held on 27 September but failed to renew the absolute majority they won in the 2005 election; the PS introduced and legislated same-sex marriage. The financial crisis of 2011 hit Portugal hard, prompting Sócrates' government to impose harsh austerity measures. On 23 March 2011, the entire opposition in Parliament said no to new measures proposed by the government; as a result of this, José Sócrates resigned as Prime Minister and a snap election took place on 5 June 2011. In the elections, the PS suffered a huge setback, with 28.1% of the vote, ten points behind the PSD, who formed another coalition government with the CDS-PP.
Sócrates resigned as General Secretary on election night after the PS's worst result since 1987. On 23 July 2011, António José Seguro was elected as Sócrates' successor; the PS, under the leadership of Seguro, won the 2013 local elections making significant gains over the PSD and the Socialists again won the European elections on May 2014 but this time only just. They won 31.5% of the vote against the 28% of the alliance between the PSD and CDS-PP. The result was considered quite a disappointment to many Socialist party members and supporters and on May 27 António Costa, the mayor of Lisbon, announced that he would stand for the leadership of the Socialist Party. António José Seguro refused to call a new congress and leadership election and instead called for a primary election, to be held on 28 September, to elect the party's candidate for Prime Minister in the 2015 general elections. António Costa defeated António José Seguro in the primaries by a 67% to 31% margin. In the 2015 legislative elections, the PS polled a disappointing second place, capturing just 32% of the votes against the 38.6% of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition called Portugal Ahead.
Despite the victory of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, the centre-left and left-wing parties achieved a clear majority in Parliament. After the second Passos Coelho cabinet fell in Parliament, with the approval of a no-confidence motion, the P
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