Poelzl V. Culture Shock! Portugal: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

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The beautiful beaches of Monte Clérigo

in Algarve make this area an ideal

destination for a getaway.

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Restaurants, such as this one in Funchal, Madeira,

are a common sight on the streets of Portugal. The

Portuguese like to enjoy leisurely meals, during

when they also socialise with friends or family.

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Built in the 19th century, the spectacular

Palácio da Pena (Palace of Pena) features

a Romantic architectural style, and

overlooks the town of Sintra in Lisbon.

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Understanding the Portuguese

sea of light, as tens of thousands of pilgrims hold up candles

while attending outdoor mass.

CATHOLIC CELEBRATIONS AND TRADITIONS

Portugal is rich in religious traditions, many of them of pagan

origin, which were later adopted by the Catholic Church. Even

the main Catholic holidays contain pagan elements often

related to solstice and harvest celebrations. Below is a short

description of how the most important Catholic celebrations

are commemorated in Portugal.

Carnaval (Mardi Gras)

Carnaval is usually celebrated on the last weekend before

Quarta Feira de Cinzas (Ash Wednesday), beginning with

Domingo Gordo (Shrove Sunday), and continuing until Terça

The basilica at Fátima.

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CultureShock! Portugal

Feira de Carnaval (Shrove Tuesday). The Portuguese carnaval

is a very folkloric and unique event often with age-old pagan

elements. In the mountainous north-east, so-called caretos

(devilish ﬁ gures) parade through town and form an important

part of the carnaval tradition. During carnaval, people play

pranks on each other, throw ﬂ our or water at the crowd on

the street and seem to take as much advantage as possible

of the saying that ‘no carnaval ninguém leva a mal’ (‘during

carnaval nobody takes offense’). The entrudo is another

popular carnaval tradition throughout Portugal. It is a large

straw puppet that is carried through the streets in a lively

procession on Ash Wednesday and then either buried or

burned. In recent years, Brazilian-style carnaval celebrations

with samba schools and large processions have become

increasingly popular, especially from Lisbon south to the

Algarve. In northern Portugal, carnaval is mostly celebrated

in the traditional way.

Quaresma (Lent)

The days of Lent between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday

are a period marked by penitence. After the revelry of

carnaval, the mood changes quickly on Ash Wednesday. In

some regions, people dressed up as a Morte e Diabos (Death

and Devils) parade through

the streets to remind revelers

and passersby that Lent, the

period of penitence, has indeed

begun. Lent is not only a time

of personal penitence, but also

a time when people pray for

the delivery of the souls in

purgatory. This ritual usually

takes place at night on certain days during Lent, sometimes

even in public, when prayers are sung in deliberately

distorted voices.

Páscoa (Holy Week and Easter)

Easter is the most important cycle of festivities of the

ecclesiastic year, and has special importance in a Catholic

The O Enterro do Bacalhau (burial

of the bacalhau) is a ritual that

marks the end of Lent, during

which

bacalhau

(dried salted

cod) is one of the main staple

foods, since meat is prohibited.

This ceremonial burial of a

piece of codﬁ sh takes place on

Holy Saturday.

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Understanding the Portuguese

country such as Portugal. Easter celebrations begin with

the blessing of the palm branches on Palm Sunday and last

until Easter Sunday. The Via Dolorosa or Via Sacra (Stations

of the Cross) is an important ritual during Holy Week. The

faithful relive the Passion of Christ, from his judgment to

his death, by visiting 14 different stations (mostly crosses

or small chapels) where they meditate about the Passion.

Good Friday is the day of the procession of the Lord’s Burial,

during which a piece of the consecrated host, symbolising

the body of Christ, is carried in a procession to a symbolic

tomb placed on an altar, where it remains until Sunday, the

day of Resurrection.

The Burning of Judas

Other Easter traditions such as the Queima de Judas (the Burning

of Judas) also celebrate the end of Lent. This rite includes

the burning of a straw puppet representing Judas. On Easter

Sunday, people all over Portugal celebrate the procession of the

resurrection and indulge in a festive meal, since it marks the end

of the fasting period. Some towns hold lively fairs with music and

dance after the Easter mass.

Natal (Christmas)

Christmas is a family feast that follows age-old Portuguese

traditions. In homes, people sometimes put up small

Christmas decorations with branches of ﬁ r trees. Families

also put up a small nativity scene on Christmas Eve. This

is also customary for most parishes, where life-size nativity

scenes are put up at the entrances of most churches or

in churchyards. In many small towns and villages, you

will still ﬁ nd the old tradition of burning a tree or tree

trunk on Christmas Eve in front of the village or town

church. In other areas, there is simply a large bonﬁ re that

is lit at the time of the midnight mass. In recent decades,

Christmas has become increasingly internationalised, and

some old traditions are giving way to plastic Christmas

trees and images of Santa Claus in his bright red costume.

Although cut Christmas trees in homes are rare, it is quite

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CultureShock! Portugal

common to adorn life trees on streets and squares with

Christmas decorations.

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is very much centred around food. The traditional

meal on Christmas Eve, known as

consoada

ceia de natal

, is

mostly a

bacalhau

dish, often served with potatoes and cabbage,

but in some regions pork is preferred. Afterwards, families gather

around the nativity scene to sing Christmas carols and exchange

gifts. The midnight mass usually forms the end of the Christmas

Eve celebrations. Many people also attend mass on the morning

of Christmas and then indulge in a sumptuous Christmas dinner.

Everywhere in Portugal during the holiday season, people

eat a special cake called bolo rei (cake of the king), a sweet

yeast bread topped with colourful candied fruit. This cake is

popular from Christmas through Epiphany, and is enjoyed in

every family. Two surprises await those who eat the cake: a

small gift (a pendant or something similar) and a broad bean

are inside the cake. Whoever gets the slice with the gift gets

to keep it, and the one who gets the bean has to bring the

bolo rei for the holidays the following year.

OTHER RELIGIONS

Portugal’s Catholicism has been deeply ingrained in the

national soul for almost a thousand years, and the practice

of other faiths was prohibited under the Inquisition and

later openly discouraged. This may be the main reason why

there are only a few small congregations of other faiths

in Portugal. It was the 1976 constitution that guaranteed

for the ﬁ rst time the right to free religious practice in

Portugal. Today, there is a minority of Protestant churches

such as Anglicans, Methodists and Baptists, as well as

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Assemblies of God and

the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God followers.

There are also several small Jewish communities and small

immigrant congregations of Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and

other faiths.

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Understanding the Portuguese

Folk Beliefs and Superstitions

In addition to Portugal’s deeply ingrained Catholic faith,

there are age-old traditions of popular folk beliefs that run

parallel and sometimes within the teachings of the Church.

Folk beliefs often relate to superstitions and irrational fears,

and suggest simple remedies and rituals to avert back luck

or bring about good fortune. In rural Portugal, folk healers

still employ magic or superstition to bring about the desired

treatment. With Portugal’s increased urbanisation, some of

these practices are beginning to disappear, but in remote

areas, especially in northern Portugal, it is not unusual to

ﬁ nd people—mostly women—who still practice witchcraft

and sorcery, often by using prayers and other elements from

the Catholic faith. In many villages, there are also practicing

healers, magicians and soothsayers, often engaged in helping

the villagers avert evil and deal with illnesses and dangers.

Another curious element of folk belief and superstition in

Portugal is the so-called mau olho or quebranto (evil eye),

which is the power to bewitch people, mostly children, by

just looking at them or giving them too much praise. To avert

such a spell, superstition has it that people have to quickly

say “May God bless him/her.” Another known remedy against

witchcraft and the evil eye is to pour salt on the street in the

shape of a cross. It is believed that witches are afraid of Saint

John, and the curse of the evil eye is immediately broken by

calling out the name of Saint John.

There are also a number of popular superstitions, some of

which have Christian roots. Some are uniquely Portuguese,

but many are known in other European countries. Among the

better known superstitions are those that supposedly bring

bad luck or misfortune: Friday the 13th; 13 people seated

at a table; crossed knives at a table; walking under a ladder;

opening an umbrella inside the house; leaving keys, scissors,

money or a hat on the bed; exposing babies to moonlight;

toasting with water; and many more.

DO AS THE PORTUGUESE DO

‘Em Roma, ser Romano.’ (‘In Rome, be a Roman.’)

—Portuguese proverb

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