The President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, yesterday highlighted the fraternity between Portugal and Mozambique and the excellence of tourism in both countries, during the inauguration of a hotel in Alcobaça, in the district of Leiria.

"We are together, but not only in doctrines, ideology, strategies or tactics of each moment. We are together in what is fundamental: we are brothers. We have been, we are and we will be brothers. May our brotherhood live on forever," said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, during his speech at the inauguration of the Montebelo Alcobaça Historic Hotel, owned by the Visabeira group, at a ceremony attended by the Mozambican Head of State, Filipe Nyusi.

The head of state also stressed the "strength of fraternity" between Portugal and Mozambique. "It's not about having a community that speaks in common, it's not about seeing bilateral relations on a political and diplomatic level. It's seeing this community of affections, of feelings. I could see in President Nyusi's eyes what it was like to visit this monastery [Alcobaça] and naturally understand what it meant to us and to you. That brings us together, that is indestructible. That's the charm of this moment.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa took the opportunity to "praise excellence in tourism".

"Today we are celebrating excellence in Portuguese tourism, in Mozambican tourism and in Portuguese and Mozambican tourism, because this is Portugal, but countless Mozambicans worked here on the work we visited and inaugurated," said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

According to the Portuguese president, it is through "the mediation of the group that welcomes us [Visabeira]" that Portugal is "present in tourism of excellence in Mozambique" and "Mozambique is present in tourism of excellence in Portugal".

Rebelo de Sousa said he felt "as a citizen" that his homeland was Mozambique.

"The important thing about this moment is not so much the cult of the past. The past serves as an example and motivation for the future. We talk about the future in tourism, the future in innovation and science, in education, in social life and in all areas of the economy, but we also live for the essential future in fraternity between people, between peoples, between their representatives," he insisted.