It’s time for vacation!
August in Portugal (and most of Western Europe) is vacation season. The first sign we saw was the sudden number of vacant parking spaces in our neighborhood. Then we noticed the new little art gallery was closed.
And the bar on the corner is closed until the 15th. So things should be pretty calm and quiet around here for several weeks. Should be.
Probably won’t be.
Back in the day…
A few summers ago, in 1147, a multi-national group of Christian Crusaders launched the “Siege of Lisbon” to drive out the Moors, who had ruled the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Spain and Portugal) for over 400 years.
The siege lasted four months and after the city surrendered, some (not all!) of the conquerors went on a rampage – looting, pillaging, and even killing the elderly Bishop of the city.
A happier invasion
As we write this post, in the first week of August, 2023, there is a very different type of invasion underway, with a much different group of Christians.
Lisbon is the host city for the Jornada Mundial Juventude or “World Youth Day” (WYD) – a global conference for young people in the Catholic church. Over 350,000 “pilgrims”, aged 14 to 30, are descending on the city, along with 25,000 volunteers and almost 700 Bishops. Thousands of others – adults, clergy, and interested persons from other faith traditions – are also expected.
The unofficial estimates are that up to 1.5 million people will come to Lisbon at some point during WYD, which runs from August 1 through August 6.
(The 2021 Census counted 546,000 residents in the city of Lisbon. It’s going to get crowded here this week!)
Pope Francis, known locally as “Papa Francisco”, arrived on Wednesday and will be in town through the weekend. He’s been seen tooling around town in a convertible.
Over 600 events are planned in 90 locations around the city. We’ve read news reports from as far away as the Philippines that call this the “Catholic Woodstock”.
The week culminates with a “Missioning Mass” on Sunday morning, led by the Pope, in a large park on eastern edge of the city along the Tagus River. Over 1 million people are expected to attend.
What we see from the fringes
We live at the northern edge of the city center, well removed from the venues that will attract the largest crowds of pilgrims. But we still see a lot of activity.
There are large signs on all the Catholic churches
Most have some version of an invitation message from the Pope, like this one that says “Vemo-nos em Agosto de 2023!” – I’ll see you in August 2023!
Posters outside apartments announce “Família Acolhimento” or “Family Reception”, indicating that a family is hosting pilgrims for World Youth Day.
There are almost 9,000 families doing this.
Many local schools have been turned into ad-hoc dormitories. This one in our neighborhood had a colorful display of pilgrim laundry hung out to dry.
Even the city buses have a greeting.
This building at the University of Lisbon was a gathering point for dozens of attendees on Thursday morning.
In our neighborhood we see small groups of pilgrims, in colorful clothes, always with backpacks, and carrying flags.
Sometimes they’re singing as they walk.
We met this group of young pilgrims in the neighborhood on Friday morning. They told us they were from Costa Rica and were having a wonderful time.
We asked what had been the best experience so far. They all agreed “Seeing Papa!”
The Pope had driven past them the day before and waved to them as he passed. The boy showed us video on his phone.
“I almost cried”, one of the girls said.
It took a plan
Staging an event of this magnitude required planning and coordination across dozens of groups – city and national government, local church leaders, the Vatican, Lisbon transit companies, the Portuguese military, and law enforcement agencies from Portugal, Spain and elsewhere.
WYD in Lisbon was announced in 2019, at the conclusion of the last event in Panama City, Panama. It was intended to be held in 2022, then was postponed due to the pandemic. But planning has been underway since the announcement, with major work being done in the past year. A few examples:
- Vehicle traffic, including rental bicycles, scooters, and Ubers is restricted in several large areas of the city. Close to the major event venues, most traffic is completely shut off, except for local residents.
- Public transport capacity in Lisbon has been expanded for the event. Metro, bus, and train lines have added 354,000 seats each weekday and 780,000 for the weekends.
- Several metro stations near major event venues have been closed during WYD for security reasons. Some bus routes have also been changed, and bus stops have been relocated.
- 16,000 security forces, civil protection and medical emergency personnel have been activated.
- Almost 18,000 trees have been planted, dedicated to WYD and reflecting the Pope’s emphasis on ecology.
- A catering network was established that linked local restaurants, grocery stores, and food suppliers to supply 2.7 million meals during WYD.
Delivering those meals seemed like a massive undertaking. We had seen signs in several grocery stores for Menu Peregrino – Pilgrim Menu. We spoke to the manager at our neighborhood supermarket about how the program worked.
She told us that the pilgrims had prepaid tickets that entitled them to a carry out meal. They could come to the store and make their selections – a salad or sandwich, chips or cookies, juice or water, and a dessert. Many were coming early in the day, she said, because the food stands near the big venues had long lines and sometimes ran out of food.
A few things got built
And of course, there was construction. A huge stage was constructed in Parque Eduardo VII, in the center of Lisbon, where the opening mass was held on August 1. Over 200,000 people attended the service. Pope Francis conducted two services there later in the week.
The park is a long, narrow strip of carefully manicured hedges that slopes downhill toward Marquês de Pombal Circle. In the distance you can see the Tagus River. This is an iconic view (also seen in the poster above). But that entire area was filled with people during the WYD events.
*Image credit: World Youth Day Flickr account
The largest construction was in the Parque Tejo – Tagus Park – area on the northeast side of the city. Here, just north of the 12.5 km long Vasco da Gama bridge, a former landfill has been renovated into a 100 hectare (247 acre) park.
Here at the park, the Pope will lead a Vigil on the evening of August 5 and the Closing Mass on Sunday morning, August 6.
The stage constructed for the events will support around 1,250 people – the Pope, the Papal retinue, Cardinals, other ministers, orchestra, and choirs. It is designed to be visible from the far end of the park – approximately 3 km away.
There were some objections
Not everyone is happy about this event coming to town, particularly when the costs were reported. Earlier this year the official cost estimates were released: € 161 million, to be covered by the Portuguese government, the Catholic Church, and the City Councils of Lisbon and Loures.
Major criticisms were leveled against the national government and the Lisbon City Council for the expense incurred while millions of Portuguese citizens struggle with inflation and increased living costs.
One result of the outcry was a decision by the Lisbon City Council to reduce the size of the altar in Tagus Park in order to lower the cost from €5 million to €2.9 million.
A very visible protest of the cost occurred in late July, when the Portuguese street artist known as Bordalo II, broke into the Tagus Park construction site and unrolled a massive carpet made of oversized €500 notes.
It’s been fun to watch
We’re not in the target demographic or religious tradition of WYD. But we have been interested to watch what’s happening – from a distance. The pilgrims we’ve seen on the street, and the few we have met, have all seemed happy and excited to be here. They have brought a different type of energy to the city. We have enjoyed seeing their smiles and the waving flags, and hearing their songs.
Next week, when everything returns to normal, we’ll probably miss the noise.
Until next time / Até a próxima vez
Mary and Mike
The Cook and The Writer
Who’s making noise in your neighborhood this week? Leave us a note in the comments below or via the Contact Us form. Maybe we’ll come join in.
I think it’s an interesting intrusion into your daily life. Something you won’t see again. Very exciting to have “papa” visit there. Now enjoy a quiet August.
Thanks, Alice! It’s much quieter here on Sunday afternoon. We saw a line of 8 buses at a nearby park this morning. It looked like they were waiting for several hundred Italian pilgrims to return from the big gathering and head home. I can only imaging what the airport will be like for the next few days!
Our best to you and Earl!
Mike
I’ve enjoyed it. The city is vibrant and more alive than any time since covid. I can put up with a few closings, congestion and noise for a week.
Hi TJ,
It’s my day to respond to your comments. Thanks for all your notes. I agree – the city does feel more alive than usual. People living closer to the big venues (Parque Eduardo, the Catholic University, Parque das Nações) probably had more disruption due to bigger crowds. We’re on the fringes of all the activity and we stayed off the metro all week.
We weren’t here during lockdown, but were here for the tail end of covid (mid-2021) – still masked and socially distancing. I’ve heard stories from others about what ghost towns Lisbon and Cascais were during that time. Hoping we don’t see a repeat, but also reconciled to the fact that covid will be with us in some form or other from now on.
Mike