Day of Freedom of Portugal

In 1974, on this day, the anti-fascist Red Carnation Revolution began in Portugal, which ended with the fall of the Salazar regime, under which the country was under oppression for more than forty years. The rebels did not use violence to come to power, so the revolution is considered bloodless, although it claimed the lives of four people killed by government forces.

The signal for the beginning of the revolution was the broadcast of the song "Grándola, Vila Morena". The people of Lisbon took to the streets with red carnations and began disarming the soldiers of the Salazar regime, handing them flowers in exchange for bullets. And they put carnations in the barrels of their weapons. The slogan “O Povo unido, jamais será vencido!” thundered over the city.

This was only the beginning, and in the next two years, exactly two years, until April 1976, state reforms of a liberal democratic character were carried out: the formation of a multiparty system, decolonization in Portuguese possessions in Africa, the adoption of a democratic Constitution.

Since then, April 25 is one of the main public holidays of the Portuguese Republic (Republica Portuguesa). It is celebrated noisily and cheerfully, accompanied by various celebrations, festivities, and, of course, bullfighting. And how not to pay attention to the fact that the local bullfight is bloodless: the Portuguese Caballero, unlike the Spanish matador, enters the battle on horseback and, most importantly, never kills a bull!