The celebrations began with a flag raising ceremony at City Hall.
The Mayor of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Carlos Condeso, the Secretary of State for Health Administration, Cristina Vaz Tomé, and the President of the Municipal Assembly, Sandra Monique Pereira, raised their flags to the sounds of the national anthem, while the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters performed the traditional guard of honor.
The celebrations of this great day for all the inhabitants of Figueirense continued in the noble hall of the town hall with the solemn memorial session.
In front of an audience full of Figueirenses, the mayor of the city, Carlos Condeso, spoke first to commend the importance of this day and the pride it represents for the history and traditions of the municipality, but also as a moment to reflect on the challenges and tribulations we face in the present and the near future.
Taking advantage of the presence of the Secretary of State for Health Administration, Cristina Vaz Tomé, the mayor did not want to miss the opportunity to appeal to the government to solve the problem of the shortage of doctors at the Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo Health Center, a situation that is “very serious”, in his words, and which the municipal executive has devoted maximum effort to trying to reverse. The majority of the population is elderly – who “turn every small emergency into a real battle for survival, given that the Guarda District Hospital is about an hour away from our health center”, – the overload on the municipal health insurance services, contracted by the city council, which has arisen from this situation and the increasing financial problems faced by the volunteer firefighters of Figueirenses, – “since they have to travel a lot to the Guarda District Hospital and to other hospitals in the distant area”, – were some of the things that the mayor raised to request the immediate intervention of the guardianship, and to strengthen the number of doctors in the municipality. In the words of the Mayor of the City Council, Carlos Condeso, “Our residents deserve care and health assistance, and our youngest deserve to find the foundations and security here to settle down and start a family, (…) so that we do not continue to feel discriminated against and that the battle of Castillo Rodrigo was truly worth it.
In response to the mayor’s challenge, and during the speech, the Secretary of State for Health Administration, Cristina Vaz Tomé, assured that the government would be informed about the problem of the shortage of doctors in the Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo Health Center and in health care centers. The need to guarantee access to better living conditions and health care for the population in the interior of the country.
During the official session, decorations were also given to municipal employees who retired last year, who received the Medal of Excellence and Dedication from the Municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo.
At the end of the Municipal Day celebrations and in the presence of the Secretary of State for Health Administration, the Municipal Executive and the members of the Mata de Lobos Parish Council paid tribute to Pedro Jacques de Magalhães, laying a wreath at the cross that commemorates one of the greatest heroes of the Battle of Castelo Rodrigo.
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