Kanye 'Ye' West Portugal concert to go ahead - government will take action in case of risk
Kanye West is scheduled to perform at the Algarve Stadium on 7 August. However, with the cancellation of several shows across Europe, doubts have been growing as to whether the concert will take place. The organisation guarantees that the event will go ahead and points to concerns about sales alone.
In recent years, Kanye West has been in the news for a series of controversies related to his behaviour and hate speech against Jews, but also for his sexist attitudes, such as the episode with his wife, Bianca Censori, at the Grammys.
Although he has apologised, the rapper, who also goes by the stage name Ye, has seen his European tour in trouble, with several concerts cancelled, particularly in countries where concerns about anti-Semitic attacks are growing.
Portugal is one of the countries included in Kanye West's European tour. However, despite the lack of social and media consternation surrounding his performance, questions are beginning to arise about his visit, especially after other countries opted to ban the artist's entry, given his controversial history and for fear of disturbing public order.
Kanye West's concert in Portugal is scheduled for 7 August at the Algarve Stadium.
Torcato Jorge, CEO and co-founder of Raya Culture, the event's organiser, said in an interview with Euronews Culture that this is "a non-issue", motivated by "misinformation".
"It's a music event that's going to happen. It would become an issue if the services identified a national threat to public order, which is not the case," he said.
The organiser is confident that all the conditions are in place for the concert to take place and says that the organisation has complied with the law from day one. "The SIS did not identify the artist, or in this case the US citizen, as a national threat or a terrorist," he recalls. "There has to be a state internal security report saying that this citizen cannot enter the country," he adds.
The CEO admitted to Euronews Culture that the issue is becoming "a political issue".
"Each country is free to decide whether or not to allow a citizen to enter, but in the European Union there has been no country that has vetoed their entry into national territory."
The only country that has so far vetoed Kanye West's entry, leading to the cancellation of three concerts, is the United Kingdom, which is no longer part of the EU.
In constant contact with Kanye "Ye" West's team, the organisation guarantees that, so far, no issues have been raised that raise fears that the artist might cancel his visit to Portugal.
"There's no fear whatsoever that he'll take the same stance as he did in France," it said. Kanye West decided to cancel his concert in France after the mayor of Marseille said he wasn't welcome.
The organisation highlights the scale of the event and the commitment of all the entities involved, such as the Loulé and Faro local authorities and Turismo de Portugal and the Algarve, assuring that work is proceeding normally for what it believes will be "the biggest event in the Algarve this summer".
"Civil Protection has just authorised our safety project for the venue, so everything is fine," he says.
However, given the investment and mobilisation of resources inherent in an event of this size, Raya Culture has sent a communication to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, showing that it is available for a meeting "for any clarification".
"I'm a great believer in the law, the rule of law and our institutions," said Torcato Jorge, dismissing any major concerns.
Contacted by Euronews Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that it is "closely monitoring the situation" and that "if any risk assessment carried out by the competent authorities concludes that the artist's visit to Portugal could pose a threat to national security or public order, measures will be taken accordingly".
The risk assessment of any event held on Portuguese soil is the responsibility of the SIRP (Portuguese Republic Information System), which produces security information on a daily basis, allowing the SIS (Security Information Service), under its tutelage, to act to prevent threats to national security and the integrity of the rule of law.
Euronews contacted both organisations, but had not received a response by the time this article went to press.
Concern about ticket sales
Torcato Jorge is now concerned about ticket sales at home, where he says he has felt a downturn following what he considers to be "speculative doubts with no legal basis".
"The foreign market is growing, including the American market, and the Portuguese market is becoming smaller and smaller, because people are afraid to buy a ticket that costs almost 200 euros and then have to ask for a refund," he laments.
According to the organisers, the box office is "70% sold out" with "the first 20,000 tickets sold in the first two hours of the pre-sale", and there are already sold-out sections and stands.
Ticket prices still available range from €159 to €450.
The organisers also said that the first tickets were mainly bought by Portuguese people, but there were also a lot of people from the UK, Spain, France and Switzerland.
Torcato Jorge believes that Kanye West has a place in the music and entertainment scene and believes that his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi comments were "a mistake", arguing that the artist's musical legacy does not reflect them.
"For those who like music, entertainment and big productions, I think it's going to be a very interesting experience," he concludes.
Which concerts have already been cancelled?
The first shows to be cancelled were in the UK: three concerts at the Wireless festival, between 10 and 12 July, after the UK government decided to revoke Kanye West's entry permit.
The artist was also scheduled to perform a month earlier at the Vélodrome in Marseille. However, after the French government expressed its intention to prevent the performance, following comments by the city's mayor, Kanye himself decided to cancel. "After much thought and consideration, I have decided to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice," he wrote on the social network X.
This was followed by cancelled concerts in Poland and Switzerland. Kanye West was scheduled to perform at the Silesia Stadium in Chorzów, in southern Poland, on 19 June.
The venue announced that the show would not take place "for formal and legal reasons", in a decision taken after Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska condemned the rapper, saying that his past statements did not allow him to perform in a country "marked by the history of the Holocaust".
"We're talking about an artist who has publicly made anti-Semitic statements, relativised crimes and profited from selling T-shirts with a swastika on them. These are not mere polemics. This is a deliberate overstepping of boundaries and a normalisation of hatred," said Cienkowska, as reported by Euronews Culture.
West was also scheduled to play a concert in Switzerland in June, at FC Basel's stadium, but the club announced that he had pulled out.
"FCB received a request and analysed it. However, after a thorough review, we have decided not to go ahead with the project as we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform for the artist in question in this context," the club said in a statement.
