Spain - Team Portugal
Resistance to Dictatorship in Spain
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Portugal
A performance built from letters, testimonies and first-hand memory of life under dictatorship, created and staged by young people in Aveiro.
Location
WP3 - Research
Carlos Alberto Oliveira, 71, lived under the dictatorship mainly in Almada. He saw books seized at the bookshop where he worked and was identified by police on a school trip. He feels reparations are no longer needed and urges young people to value democracy.
He recalls a poor rural childhood under Salazar, with hard farm work, clandestine emigration and fear of the PIDE; his grandfather was arrested for smuggling olive oil. Democracy brought freedom, education and healthcare, which he says must go with respect for duties and others.
Maria Isabel Salvado, a teacher, was 17 in 1974. She recalls fear of politics, a PIDE neighbour, rural poverty and banned books shared at school. She describes the joy of the Revolution and argues that freedom needs responsibility, critical thinking and preserving memory.
João Marta, 78, recalls the dictatorship, military service, the colonial war and unrest in Aveiro. He values the freedoms and development democracy brought. A retired banker and author of six books, he wants closer ties between Portugal, Brazil and other Lusophone countries.
He tells how a friend in Angola was persecuted in 1972 for owning Marxist books and later arrested in Setúbal. After 25 April his record was cleared and he built a career. He sees more freedom today but feels democracy must be consolidated and young people should know the past.
Maria Dulce Bernardes, born in 1955 and a Portuguese teacher for 45 years, recalls discrimination against women, limits on education, censorship and PIDE surveillance at university. She values how democracy expanded education and equal rights, and urges young people to preserve it.
Maria Emília Brandão recalls poverty, PIDE surveillance and no free speech in the Estado Novo. Her husband was held prisoner in Goa and her brother fought in Mozambique. As a teacher she faced rules limiting women. She sees democracy as positive and asks youth to remember the past.
Maria Fernanda Coanhas, born in São Tomé in 1963, had a happy island childhood and did not feel the repression directly. Her family helped a cousin avoid the colonial war. Forced to leave after 1974, she was poorly received as a returnee and wants support for traumatised veterans.
Maria Helena, 76, studied Economics in Porto and secretly joined opposition actions, literacy campaigns and the Democratic Women's Movement. She recalls surveillance, arrests and the colonial war, and warns democracy is not guaranteed: people must stay alert, defend rights and vote.
Palmira, 87, recalls rural poverty and rationing. She refused to vote in a presidential election and to spy on conversations. Backed by her father, she studied at night, earned a degree and entered local politics. She values 25 April but criticises excesses and injustices.
Two participants recall 25 April in Bragança and Lamego as the end of oppression. They describe fear of talking politics, the Colonial War, censorship and restrictions on women, such as dress codes and needing permission to marry, and value today's rights and freedom of expression.
WP4 - creative process
How the performance came together — rehearsals, writing sessions, and the process of turning research into something the team could perform.
Your story matters
Do you have a story about resistance, life under dictatorship or marginalization / rights being threatened? We'd love to hear it, even if you didn't experienced dictatorship, it could be a recent experience where you've felt your rights were being threatened.
What you share here can be used in the future to complement this project. For now it will be share privatly with the team.
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