O Smuggling Festival – Arts Traffic in the Guadiana returns to Alcoutim on Friday, but not before holding another conference dedicated to the same theme. The Jornadas do Contraband will take place on Thursday, the 28th, and will make known history, but also stories about this clandestine activity..
This seminar will take place in the Main Hall of Alcoutim Town Hall, from 9:30 am, and will recall the time when smuggling was the expedient found by many of the inhabitants of the border to earn money and improve their lives, despite the risks the activity entailed – and the fact that it was illegal.
This story will be told by investigators, but also by former smugglers and former law enforcement officers, who lived this reality in the first person.
This time, the journeys take place the day before the official opening of the festival – which is the same as saying the opening of the floating bridge between Alcoutim and Sanlúcar de Guadiana –, scheduled for the 29th and which will be attended by Nelson de Souza, minister Planning, and Ângela Ferreira Secretary of State for Culture.
The Governments of Spain and Andalusia will also be represented, in this case by Alejandro Romero Romero, Deputy Councilor for Culture and Historical Heritage, and Bella Verano Domínguez, delegate of the Andalusian Government in Huelva.
This strong presence of rulers from both sides of the border has to do with one of the particularities of the event, the fact that it is a joint organization of Alcoutim and Sanlúcar, two locations that for centuries looked at each other head on, but which had on the Guadiana a separation.
The times when the river separated and smuggling was a profession are now remembered in this event, which in addition to being a strong component of street and cultural entertainment, also invests heavily in local products and handicrafts.
And if, at the festival, a more romantic view of smuggling is explored, the same does not happen at the Jornadas. In addition to several presentations (see full program below), there will be a round table on the theme “Contribution to the characterization of the Alcouteneja Society. Memories of Contraband”, with the participation of Carlos Brito (former Deputy in the Assembly of the Republic), Manuel Marguilho (Retired Major of the Fiscal Guard), Vitória Cassinelo (Doctor Professor, retired), Gaspar Santos (Engineer, born in Alcoutim), Amílcar Felicio (Businessman, born in Alcoutim) and Francisco Pereira (Retired GF Corporal).
Smuggling Days Program (March 28):
– 09:30 am – Reception of Participants
– 10:00 am – Opening Session
Osvaldo Dos Santos Gonçalves, Mayor of Alcoutim
João Fernandes, President of the Algarve Tourism Region
Anabela Afonso, Commissioner of the “365 Algarve” Program
Adriana Nogueira, Regional Director of Culture of the Algarve
– 10:30 am – Documentary “I learned these tricks…”, 2nd episode of the series “Stories of contraband”, by Paulo Vinhas Moreira
– 10:50 am – Coffee break
Panel 1 | Moderator: Augusto Lourido
– 11:00 am – Carlos Porfírio, painter and filmmaker / The film “A cry in the night” (1948), by Rui Guerreiro
– 11:25 am – The proverb and the identity of a people, by Rui Soares
– 11:50 am – Society and social mobility in the XNUMXth century in the parish of Martim Longo, by Fernanda Rosado
– 12:15 pm – Smuggling in the history of the Algarve economy, by José Carlos Vilhena Mesquita
– 12:40 pm – Debate
– 13:00 pm – Free lunch
Panel 2 | Moderator: Augusto Lourido
– 14:50 pm – Alcoutim – The Frontier of Subsistence, by José Dias Rodrigues
– 15:15 pm – Revisiting “ancient” Alcoutim through photography, by José Serafim
– 15:40 pm – Debate
– 15:50 am – Coffee break
– 16:00 pm – Roundtable “Contribution to the characterization of the Alcouteneja Society. Memories of Contraband”, with the participation of Carlos Brito (former Member of the Assembly of the Republic); Manuel Marguilho (Retired Major of GF); Vitória Cassinelo (Professor Doctor, retired); Gaspar Santos (Engineer, born in Alcoutim); Amílcar Felício (Businessman, born in Alcoutim) and Francisco Pereira (Retired GF Corporal).
– 17:30 pm – Documentary “Smuggling in the Lower Guadiana” – Associação Odiana
– 17:50 pm – Debate
– 18:00 pm – Closing Session
Paulo Paulino, Vice President of Alcoutim City Council
José María Perez Díaz, Alcalde of the Ayuntamiento de Sanlúcar de Guadiana
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