Thousands of Portuguese from all over the country converged on Lisbon on Saturday to show that lifestyles of yesteryear are alive, kicking and thoroughly fed up.
These are people who thrive on hunting, shooting, fishing and yes, it has to be said: they like bull-fighting too.
“Juntos Pelo Mundo Rural” (Together for the Rural World) is heartily sick of what it calls the “animalistic, environmentalist policies coming out of Lisbon”.
They say sectors like fishing, hunting, agriculture and bullfighting are being constantly prejudiced by “prohibitionist” ideals.
“Every day new draft laws enter parliament that are against the rural world”, the movement’s president Luís Gusmão told reporters.
The massive parade – involving various sectors keeping in their groups (as a way of reducing any risk of virus transmission) invariably wearing masks – wound its way from Marquês do Pombal to the steps of parliament
The overriding message was “respect our way of life, traditions and customs”.
The Lisbon bubble; the vegan revolution – they may have their place, but Juntos Pelo Mundo Rural does not want to sacrifice theirs.
Today in Tomar, there was another demo as Inês Sousa Real took over the reins of PAN, the People Animals Nature party taken to undeniable heights by outgoing MP André Silva.
Said a post over Facebook, Ms Sousa real “promised in the middle of the town of Tomar, in the heart of the Ribatejo, to end bullfighting, hunting, meat – daring to say all this in a municipality which has one of the oldest bull-rings in the country, where the majority of Ribatejo slaughterhouses are sited and where poultry farms struggle for survival! We turned up to show that she won’t be able to manage it without strong opposition, and equal daring…”
