More than a thousand people took to the streets this Saturday to join the protest called by the CGTP in three cities in the Algarve. In Faro, the parade, which began at the Lyceum roundabout and traveled through the downtown area, brought together hundreds of people, a situation that had a parallel in Portimão, another of the places that hosted the “National Journey of Action and Struggle” of the inter-union.
In the capital of the Algarve, the parade thickened as it progressed and reached its peak when it passed by the Doca de Faro and returned to Largo da Pontinha.
A long line of people, who would then have been close to a thousand people, shouted slogans, demanding an increase in wages, namely the value of the minimum wage.
In Portimão, the demonstration brought together around 500 people, who roamed the streets of the city, from the Alameda, passing in front of the Town Hall and the Casa Inglesa, and ending in the riverside, next to the bandstand, where the rally took place, with leaders from the Union of Unions of the Algarve and the various Unions present.
Em Faro, at the end of the parade, there was also a rally at Largo da Pontinha, which was not so well attended, but which still brought together a few hundred people.
An occasion that the leader of the Union of Unions of the Algarve (Usal) António Goulart took advantage of to recall the official unemployment figures for the last quarter of 2012 released this week.
For the union leader, “these numbers of the past are not as worrying as the present ones”, since he believes that unemployment is now at a point never reached before. "There will certainly be more than 60 unemployed in the Algarve," he said.
Remembering that the time when, traditionally, unemployment is higher is the first quarter of the year, given the seasonality of the 
Tourism, António Goulart said he fears that at the moment «official unemployment is already at 23 or 24 percent».
"We may have already surpassed 30 percent real unemployment," he warned.
Accusing the coalition government's policies of being responsible for this situation, the Usal leader insisted on the need for the government to fall and change course, a demand that was repeatedly shouted by those who joined the protest.
Portimão, Vila Real de Santo António and Beja were also chosen to host this protest, which took place nationwide.
Updated at 21:10 pm, with information about the demonstration in Portimão.
Veja here more photos of the demonstration em Faro and Portimão
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