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Portugal to get rid of four paid holidays after getting approval from Vatican
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
May 9th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
May 9th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
The largely Catholic nation of Portugal will be getting rid of four paid
holidays in an attempt to save money. The Portuguese government only
did so after conferring with the Vatican. Starting next year, two
religious holidays - Corpus Christi and All Saints Day will be regular
working days. Two state holidays were also removed out of fairness.
Portugal and the Vatican will re-evaluate and review the agreement in five years, the government said.
How this will help the ailing local economy remains unclear. Economy ministry spokesman Hugo Soares declined to say how cutting the holidays would boost the economy.
Portugal is struggling with recession and debt. Along with the economies of Greece, Italy, Ireland and Spain, its economy is a cause for concern across the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency.
Both the governments of Spain and Portugal have urged Greece on Wednesday to stick to its bailout program and stay in the euro and promised to spare no effort in reducing their own budget deficits to ward off the growing euro zone debt crisis.
"I hope that Greece stays in the European Union and remains part of the euro project," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told journalists after a summit with his Portuguese counterpart, Pedro Passos Coelho.
Passos Coelho said the Greek election result was "worrying" and urged the country's politicians to establish a government in order to follow the terms of Athens' second bailout.
The meeting between Rajoy and Coehlo was aimed at boosting cooperation between the Iberian nations but it was dominated by the euro crisis, which they said could only be overcome if countries first fix their debts and then turn to focus on economic growth.
"Let us be very clear, there is no economic growth without budget consolidation," Passos Coelho, whose country is under a 78-billion-euro bailout and is the second most risky nation in the euro zone in terms of bond spreads.
Both Spain and Portugal's bond yields have risen sharply this week as Athens' crisis turned for the worse after its inconclusive election at the weekend.
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