A Portuguese Love

Pedro Cruz is the author of these photos. He publishes his work in many newspapers and magazines. I asked his permission to post it for you. He's a local young man, a journalist who is also passionate about taking photos.I think he has a keen eye for photography. Want to see more? Check out this link to his Carnival 2012 album on Facebook. Thousands came to Figueira da Foz to watch the Carnival parade on the Avenue of Brazil, near the beach, on Sunday. The weather was great, lot's of sunshine, no wind. This year the kings of the Carnival were a former football player, Paulo Futre, - I wrote about him before in a post about Licor Beirão advertising campaign - and a local female figure. In addition to several decorated floats that focused on the satire of national and international recent political events, many masked people, adults and children, and the samba schools filled the street with color and animation.

Image source The next days are dedicated to Carnival celebrations all over the world. So I bring you the oldest Portuguese Carnival. Its origins go back in time. It’s the Carnival of Podence a small village in northern Portugal. The men you’ll watch in this  video are known as Caretos. They become superior beings, they are magical figures when they wear tin masks with a hooked noses, colored wool bangs, and a stick. Only men and boys can wear these masks and suits and they are like devils that chase women on the streets. They grab women, especially single women, and then they shake their body. The belt has cowbells – chocalhos - attached so the dance is quite noisy. The gesture of beating with chocalhos is related to the beating Pan priests gave women in the Spring festivals. They believed women would get pregnant with such a beating. Caretos has its origin in those fertility rituals and Spring announcing festivals. Each year more people go to Macedo de Cavaleiros to wa...