São Filipe, Cabo Verde, 20 May 2025 (Lusa) - Cabo Verde is to renovate the Municipal Museum of São Filipe, on the island of Fogo, a space that was born with the support of the Portuguese municipality of Palmela in a prime location on the island famous for its volcano and annual festivals, the government announced on Tuesday.

"The refurbishment work is being financed by the Cabo Verdean government, as part of the implementation of the Tourism Operational Plan, to the tune of 18,000 escudos [around €160,000], through Infraestruturas de Cabo Verde [a stae enterprise], and in partnership with the São Filipe City Council," it said in a statement.

The museum began 15 years ago, in the basement of a century-old building, as a result of decentralised cooperation with Palmela, a municipality in the district of Setúbal, in southern Portugal, with which São Filipe is twinned.

The refurbishment will be comprehensive: in addition to work on the roof, floors and staircase, the tour circuit will be updated, maintaining the theme dedicated to the personalities and cultural manifestations of the island of Fogo.

The day of the municipality is celebrated on 1 May, a date that coincides with the Festa das Bandeiras (Festival of the Flags), which annually attracts tourists and emigrants to their homeland for horse races, processions and acrobatic displays with centuries-old roots.

The museum is part of Fogo's tourist itinerary, at a time when the country is trying to promote other points of interest besides the island's beaches, which draw almost all of the 1.2 million guests in the resorts on two islands, Sal and Boa Vista.

LFO/ARO // ARO.

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