In 1921, Bordeira was a kind of island, an isolated territory in the municipality of Faro, no water, electricity or telephone. But there were people, people very connected to that land and who, moved "by necessity", got together to create something new: a consumer cooperative. And so “A Bordeirense” was born, which is celebrating 100 years of struggle, resistance and stories, like that, in 1964, when not even a raid of the regime prevented it from continuing to function.
Leonardo Abreu knows the Cooperative well, which is one of the oldest in the country. President for eight years, he is the grandson of one of the 10 founders of “A Bordeirense”, which gives him an almost umbilical connection to this institution – and he does not hide it.
"I must tell you, this was a remarkable creation," he recalls. Sul Informação, during the lunch to commemorate the cooperative's 100th anniversary.
November 17, 1921 was the key date: the day “A Bordeirense” was formally born, by the hand of 10 men who had already thought of the idea “certainly for some time”.
«The movement, we believe, was before the day the deed was done. That and the fact that there are more people involved than just the 10 men who showed up, in a formal way», reports Leonardo Abreu, who was also president of the Parish Council of Santa Bárbara de Nexe.
All were driven by a major reason that led them to create this cooperative: “the need”.
“We were an isolated land. We lacked a lot. Hence, the creation of a consumer cooperative, which had everything, food, shoes and clothing. Sometimes, for fun, I even say that Belmiro de Azevedo was inspired by the Cooperative's statutes to create its hypermarkets», says Leonardo Abreu, between laughs.
Those were times without cars: the approximately 14 kilometers that separate Bordeira from Faro they were traversed at cost.
So, during the first years of the cooperative, there was a supplier - a man who went to Faro, bought what was needed in the warehouses and delivered the food, shoes or clothes to “Bordeirense”, who sold the goods to the partners.
In that small land, another value reigned which, in Leonardo Abreu's opinion, was also preponderant.
“There was – and still is – a very strong spirit of sharing in Bordeira. I am talking about the values of unity, cooperation, mutual help in order to better face the difficulties of life. Furthermore, this was never a land where there was, in my view, a great shift of classes,” he says.
To this is added something undeniable: "an inclination towards a certain cooperative ideology that was only born a few decades ago in Europe".
«The creation of this cooperative took place only eleven years after the implantation of the Republic and these men were republicans, unionized workers and also very linked to associations», recalls Leonardo Abreu.
Over the 100 years of its existence, there has been an especially difficult period. The times of the Estado Novo, averse to cooperativism, proved to be challenging.
In addition to the arrests of Bordeirenses, at the hands of the PIDE, recalled by José Manuel, who was already president of the cooperative, there was, in 1964, a particular episode.
In that year, an inspection – «which is, as they say, a raid» – by the Ministry of Corporations led to the seizure of the documents of “A Bordeirense”.
"They took everything away and only after the 25th of April did we manage to recover them, but even that, during those years, didn't stop us from continuing!", says, in turn, Leonardo, without hiding his pride.
Currently, times have changed. The Cooperative space, which continues to operate, is now leased to two people who operate both the tavern and the grocery store.
The couple Bruno Rosa and Rita Silva likes more to be treated as «current tenants». They are the ones in charge of the “exploitation” of these two aspects of the Cooperative.
While they are assisting those who arrive there, Bruno Rosa speaks of the "values" that continue to guide all Bordeirians.
“This is something you can't see anymore. Here, people's words are as important today as it was 100 years ago. For example, if someone tells me that they're coming to pay later, they really do come», he says, with a smile on his face.
It's a familiar place, where everyone knows everyone else, and it has paintings with the names of all the founders so that the memory won't be forgotten.
José Nunes is at a table with three other friends and, between a beer and a coffee, he tells the story of the day he gave money from his own pocket so that the Cooperative would not end.
"This is a very important institution for Bordeira", he shoots.
The seed of solidarity, planted 100 years ago by the founders of the Cooperative, is, for Leonardo Abreu, one of the secrets of the longevity of the “Bordeirense”, whose centenary celebrations have also included a gathering about the institution's steps.
“This is a living land because it has its own values and characteristics. The value of sharing remains in Bordeira, despite the various vicissitudes over the years», he concludes.
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