AEMI

Portuguese Language Media in
Luxembourg: The Newspaper Contacto,
a Step Towards Integration
Susana Cascao
This paper briefly summarizes the main
findings of my Master’s thesis, in which
I studied the case of the Portuguese language
newspaper Contacto, a weekly periodical
that traces the complete history
of the Portuguese speaking community
in Luxembourg. Its founding coincided
with the first and biggest wave of Portuguese
migration to Luxembourg in the
1970’s, making it particularly valuable
as a tool for understanding the self-representation
of the Portuguese community
throughout its development. A
thorough qualitative content analysis
was possible thanks to full access to all of
Contacto’s archives since its inception. 1
In order to better understand the Portuguese
language media panorama in
Luxembourg, it is essential to first give
an account of some essential structural
and demographic elements regarding
the Grand Duchy. It is a small country
with a population of 535,000 of which
almost 40 per cent are foreign residents;
of those foreign residents 43 per cent
are Portuguese nationals (92,100). 2 The
country represents a reality with an unusual
proportion of foreigners given its
total population. The immense variety
of nationalities living in the Grand
Duchy (170) and the significant weigh
they might translate into in terms of
votes has been the source of a lively mediatic
debate that has culminated in the
pioneering June 2015, referendum on
extending the right to vote in general
elections to foreign nationals. 3
Portuguese immigration to Luxembourg
has its origins in the late 1960’s
and its flow has been uninterrupted
since. In 1970, a bilateral agreement between
the Portuguese and Luxembourgish
governments kicked off a wave of
migration towards the Grand Duchy,
limited by the quotas established for
workers in the construction sector. Such
quotas were largely overwhelmed by a
determination to immigrate born from
economic push factors, opposition to
the political regime then in place and
the ongoing colonial war. Portuguese
have been emigrating in large numbers
to Luxembourg ever since, although the
beginning of the 2000’s has seen a shift
towards professionals with higher education
working mainly in the financial, IT
and services sector (Berger, 2008).
The media panorama in the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg includes more
and more ‘ethnic media’, a concept