Inês de Medeiros

Inês de Saint-Maurice Esteves de Medeiros Victorino de Almeida (born 15 April 1968)^[1] is a Portuguese actress and politician. She won a Golden Globe in 1996. A member of the Socialist Party, she was a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic from 2009 to 2016, and mayor of Almada from 2017.

Early life and acting

Medeiros was born in Vienna, Austria, where her father António Victorino de Almeida was a conductor, while her mother Maria Armanda Esteves was a journalist. Her sister Maria is also an actress. The family moved regularly until the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974; they settled in Lisbon the year after.^[2] She studied two years of Portuguese literature at the New University of Lisbon but did not graduate; she then studied theatre for two years at Sorbonne University.^[3]

Medeiros made her cinematic debut in 1981's A Culpa, directed by her father.^[2] In 1996, she won a Golden Globe.^[4]

Politics

In the October 2009 elections, Medeiros was elected to the Assembly of the Republic for the Lisbon, representing the Socialist Party (PS).^[5] She commuted to the legislature from her home in Paris, with the tickets being reimbursed by the state as if they were flights between Lisbon and the Azores, €620 return. This was in agreement with pre-existing legislation around deputies from that archipelago. PS parliamentary leader Francisco Assis said of the matter "On a scale of zero to 100 of the main problems in this country [with zero as the highest], this subject must come 300th".^[6] She was re-elected in 2011 and 2015, the latter time by Setúbal.^[7]

In the 2017 municipal elections, Medeiros became mayor of Almada after forming a coalition with the Social Democratic Party; the result ended the hegemony of the Communist Party that had existed in the city since the first democratic elections in 1976.^[8] She won a second term in 2021, ahead of the former three-term Communist mayor of nearby Setúbal, Maria das Dores Meira.^[9]

In late 2022, the Almada local government led by Medeiros began the demolition of the Bairro do Segundo Torrão, a shanty town in Trafaria inhabited mainly by immigrants. The reason given was that drainage problems could have caused the buildings to collapse. The decision was condemned by Amnesty International. Medeiros said that residents had been put in emergency accommodation in Almada or Lisbon hotels until housing contracts could be finalised.^[10] The deadline for leaving before demolition was 30 September; houses collapsed into the drainage ditch due to heavy rains on 20 October.^[11]

References

1. "Biografia" [Biography] (in Portuguese). Assembly of the Republic. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
2. Bruno, Cátia (5 October 2017). "Inês de Medeiros. A vida e as polémicas da mulher que tirou Almada ao PCP" [Inês de Medeiros. The life and the controversies of the woman who took Almada from the PCP]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 March 2021.
3. CURRICULUM VITAE, Instituto do Cinema e do Audiovisual, I. P. https://www.ica-ip.pt/fotos/downloads/contentdoc1120_130189569355b10c7d67d75.pdf
4. "Todos os vencedores da história dos Globos de Ouro" [All the winners in the history of the Golden Globes]. Caras (in Portuguese). 19 May 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
5. Pires, Patricia (15 October 2019). "Inês de Medeiros, de actriz a deputada" [Inês de Medeiros, from actress to deputy] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
6. "Viagens de Inês de Medeiros custam até 2500 euros por mês" [Inês de Medeiros's travels cost up to 2500 euros per month]. Público (in Portuguese). 23 April 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
7. "Estes são os 18 deputados eleitos pelo distrito de Setúbal" [These are the 18 deputies elected by the Setúbal District] (in Portuguese). Distrito. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
8. Pincha, João Pedro (3 November 2017). "Inês de Medeiros coliga-se com o PSD em Almada" [Inês de Medeiros forms coalition with the PSD in Almada]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 March 2021.
9. "Autárquicas: PS volta a vencer em Almada com Inês de Medeiros" [Local elections: PS win again in Almada with Inês de Medeiros] (in Portuguese). SIC Notícias. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
10. "Bairro do Segundo Torrão. Famílias em risco de ficarem desalojadas, alerta a Amnistia Internacional" [Bairro do Segundo Torrão. Families at risk of being made homeless, Amnesty International warns] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
11. "Almada. Uma das zonas da vala do 2º Torrão na Trafaria desabou" [Almada. One of the zones by the ditch in Segundo Torrão in Trafaria collapsed]. Observador (in Portuguese). 20 October 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.