There is already a bridge connecting Alcoutim to Sanlúcar…but it's only for a few days. The “construction” of this bridge is one of the main events of the Festival do Contraband that, from this Friday, the 24th, until Sunday, the 25th.
These days are dedicated to joining and merging the homage to an activity that throughout history has been important for people on the border, with arts and culture.
Over the long weekend, there will be a period market, local cuisine, ethnographic parades, street theater, street music bands, craft workshops and much more entertainment, with the main attraction of the Alcoutim Sanlúcar de Guadiana Cross-border Pedestrian Bridge , offering the pioneering experience of walking on the Guadiana River and crossing the border in an original and unique way, an old dream of the two villages.
However, who has already arrived in Alcoutim, was the caravel «Boa Esperança», which this Friday sailed up the Guadiana River and is now anchored in front of the Algarve village, with the Spanish village in front of it.
The Festival opens this Friday with the first Jornadas do Contraband, which, from 9:30 am, bring together former smugglers, tax guards, investigators, among other participants, Portuguese and Spanish, to debate the activity of smuggling.
The initiative, integrated in the Smuggling Festival, organized by the Municipality of Alcoutim, intends to convey a clear vision of smuggling activities, recognizing and valuing a local identity, memories and smuggling heritage.
Smuggling was the “art” of trading hidden from the eyes of the law and governments, responding to the needs and difficulties of border people. Basic foods like eggs, flour and almonds were transported, in the dead of night, across the border. In addition to material goods, feelings, knowledge and dreams were shared.
"Currently, with the growing interest in cultural heritage, it makes perfect sense to register and study the "memories" of smuggling in a perspective of better understanding the local identity and contributing to the discussion of the depopulation of the interior and especially in this border area", stresses the organization of the Conferences.
“The generations that lived through traditional smuggling are disappearing, losing their culture and sense of survival. With them, knowledge is lost, passed between generations, which has been accumulated over the years», he adds.
The first Jornadas do Contrabando counts on the presence of historians, sociologists and anthropologists, researchers, professors, poets, specialists who will address themes such as “Contraband, memory and identity in the Bajo Guadiana”, “Smuggling in the Raia de Mértola – An Identity Heritage of Oral Memory and Popular Imaginary. Evocation of a Singular Investigation", "Traditional smuggling in the Hispanic-Luso front as a resource and as an identity" between others.
During the event, it will be possible to watch the short film “Cinematic Adaptation of “Fronteira”; the “Smuggling Documentary” and the presentation of the book “Smuggling and Survival Manual. Alcoutenejas Memories”.
The Journeys end with a round table, which brings together the actors on both sides of this borderline activity, the tax guards and the smugglers.
The program Smuggling Festival, which integrates in the 365 Algarve program, can be consulted at Alcoutim City Council page and event facebook page.
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