As Portugal’s financial crisis begins to bite, so there are signs that the authorities are beginning to tighten their belts, and one manifestation of this was the length of Odemira’s fireworks display to mark the Carnation Revolution of 1974 – when the country kicked out the Fascist regime of Salazar and Caetano and swung wildly to the left, (the least bloodthirsty revolution in recorded history), – being reduced from its usual half hour duration to an extravaganza of just 15 minutes.
Sad to see it so small of course, as this date was the defining moment in recent Portuguese history, and more so in this area than in many others in Portugal, and thus deserves to be remembered and celebrated here more than anywhere else, but the times they are a’changing  and we simply hope that the Câmara, (our local County Council), will still be able to save some money to repair the roads around here which are falling to bits at an ever-increasing rate.
Anyway, enough of my whingeing! It’s great to see that, even if it has to be shortened to suit the times, the display continues its normal high quality and I post the above for the many fans of this spectacle who couldn’t make it down to celebrate with us this weekend.