As in previous days, on this last day of the 16th-century Market, the city of Machico is once again “on the rise”. With the downtown area once again swarming with people, locals and outsiders, for the Mayor of Machico, Ricardo Franco, “this year’s edition is, without a doubt, the best ever. The most participated and with the greatest influx of public, including “tourists”.
He also notes that contributing to the “spectacular turnout of people” has been “the fantastic weather in the three days. Always with good weather”, he emphasizes. Factors where everything combined contributed to the success of this 15th edition of the 15th-century Market.
The balance that anticipates this event, which is organized by Escola Básica e Secundária de Machico, in partnership with the City Council “is extremely positive. Machico wins, the Region wins, and the Country wins, because a lot of people who come here aren’t even from Portugal”, he says.
Happy for the recovery, the mayor considers that “these events make perfect sense because they are authentic representatives of our culture, our history and also of the best we have to offer, which is our gastronomy”.
He recalls that “people were hungry for these types of initiatives” because of the pandemic they had almost “cloistered themselves”, but fortunately “the great dictatorship of the pandemic is over” that prevented people from relating and enjoying these events. They were therefore looking forward to the return of the Sixteenth Century Market and other major events that are a hallmark of the Region.