On the 3rd of September, Lisbon wept. The Glória Funicular, one of the city’s most beloved and iconic symbols, derailed. A disaster that left us all perplexed: was it human error? Negligence? Or simply the weight of centuries, of machines no longer able to support the volume of unrestrained tourism?

These are pressing questions that demand answers. Not only to determine responsibility, but to ensure that a tragedy like this never haunts our city again.

I moved to Lisbon 11 years ago. Since then, I’ve called it home. It was extremely generous to me, opening up streets, horizons, possibilities. Maybe that’s why, watching the videos of the disaster, I felt myself derail too. For the pain of the victims, the wounded heritage, for all of Lisbon.

My thoughts have since been with the families of those who lost their lives and all the injured. And my deepest gratitude goes to the emergency teams who, with courage and promptness, responded to the unexpected.

Just like nature, cities have a soul of their own. Last Wednesday, Lisbon made itself heard in a brutal and painful way, pushing us toward an unavoidable reflection. Not only about the injustice of lives stolen on what should have been a journey of discovery and enchantment, but also about the portrait of a city overwhelmed—for its residents, for its visitors, and for the symbols that connect us to the past.

Don’t get me wrong. I am, and always will be, in favour of tourism. My heart is full to see our country finally recognised as the treasure it has always been. I love seeing others fall in love with the same light that once won me over.

Let them come and come back again! Because we always have something to teach and to offer, and just as much to learn and to receive.

May this disaster be clarified, may it not go unanswered, may it open space for change. Lisbon deserves it. The country deserves it. We all deserve it.

Amália once sang: “Lisbon, don’t be French, you are Portuguese, you are just for us.”

I say something different: Lisbon is for everyone who comes with an open heart. Just as I did 11 years ago. Just as many more will.