Póvoa de Varzim, in Portugal is an ethno-cultural entity stemming from its working classes and with influences arriving from the maritime route from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. The most charismatic of its communities, formerly overwhelmingly dominant, is the fisher community. It has significant similarities with those of the Danish fjords and it is one of Portugal's oldest ports. Póvoa de Varzim has distinct cultural traits and a strong local identity.

The expression Ala-Arriba! means "Go upwards" and it represents the co-operation between the inhabitants while docking a boat in the beach, and it is also seen as the motto of Póvoa de Varzim. The docudrama film Ala-Arriba!, by José Leitão de Barros, popularized this unique Portuguese fishing community within the country during the 1940s and Povoan maritime culture was used by Salazar regime as a stereotype for all Portuguese. Several fishing communities in Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking Africa were influenced or started by Povoan fishermen.

Identity and ethnicity

Ethnic group Póvoa de Varzim is an ethno-cultural entity. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the communities of Póvoa de Varzim were marked by endogamy, exclusiveness and local identity features with several centuries.

Due to endogamy and a caste system, the fisher community of Póvoa de Varzim kept particular ethnic features. Povoan fishermen, supported by 19th century scientific theories, believed they were a separate race, named "Raça Poveira" (Povoan Race). Anthropological and cultural data indicate the colonization of Nordic fishermen during the period of the coast's resettling. Since the 19th century, the visible ethnic differences when comparing with the surrounding people, led to different theories over the origin of the population: Suebi, Prussians, Teutons, Normans and even Phoenicians. In the book The Races of Europe (1939), Povoans were considered to be slightly blonder than average, with wide faces of unknown origin and robust cheeks. In a research published in O Poveiro (1908), using 19th century scientific methodology, the anthropologist Fonseca Cardoso considered that an anthropological element, most noticeably the aquiline nose, was of semitic-Phoenician origin. He considered that Povoans were the result of a mixture of Phoenicians, Teutons, and mostly, Normans.

Ramalho Ortigão when he wrote about Póvoa in the book "As Praias de Portugal" (1876), The Beaches of Portugal, stated that the main curiosity of Póvoa was the Povoan fishermen, that was a special "race" in the Portuguese coastline; completely different from the Mediterranean type typical of Ovar and Olhão, Povoans are of "Saxon" type: they are "fair-haired, clear eyes, wide shoulders, athletic chest, herculean legs and arms, round and strong faces." More recently, Óscar Fangueiro noticed that the Nordic influence could have happened during the late Middle Ages when Portugal built diplomatic ties with Denmark.

Cultural identity The local popular expressions "Poveirinhos pela graça de Deus" (Little Povoans by the grace of God) and "Reino da Póvoa" (Kingdom of Póvoa) trace their origin to a maritime trip by King Luis I of Portugal when the king's ship, near the coast, saw a lancha poveira boat. The king was surprised with the distinct looks of the boat's crew and asked them if they were Spanish, the king's supposition shocked Povoans and the crew said they weren't Spanish. Then the king asks if they were Portuguese, and the Povoans replied once more they were not, they said they were "(Little) Povoans by the grace of God". Then the king asks from which kingdom they come from, they replied they were from the Kingdom of Póvoa.

The Povoan fishermen only married with peoples that were part of its fisher caste, and only within its community in Póvoa de Varzim or small ancient fishing villages directly related with Póvoa, namely Santo André (currently in the modern civil parishes of Aguçadoura and Aver-o-Mar) and Fão (in Esposende). Since the 18th century, the urban expansion of Póvoa de Varzim to the south, created the new fishing communities of Poça da Barca and Caxinas in the municipality of Vila do Conde. As such, the ethnicity was used to justify the annexation of these areas, even during the Estado Novo regime. Currently, the "Raça Poveira" expression is mostly used in football to describe perseverance and courage.Tito... A raça poveira - Varzim S.C.

Povoan farmers

Along with the fishermen, there were also the Galician farmers, these were ancient peoples and typical Northern Portuguese from the Minho region were Póvoa is located. These also contributed to the identity of Póvoa de Varzim with traditions such as Masseira farm fields and the Povoan cart, the Carroça Poveira. But both communities, despite sharing the same land, lived isolated from each other, mostly due to the fishermen rules. Óscar Fangueiro, author of Sete Séculos na Vida dos Poveiros (Seven centuries in the Life of Povoans) contradicted the fisher endogamous theory. In his study he noticed Póvoa had immigration since very early periods and noticed that some farmers were integrated in the fisher community.

Regional and foreign influence Immigration from Galicia to Póvoa de Varzim is ancient. There are notable Povoans with Galician ancestry. The Povoan surname "Nova" is believed to be derived from Galician "Nóvoa". With the development of fishery and, in more recent periods, beach therapy, Póvoa got even more immigration, to such an extent that the city had regional bonds stretching from Galicia, Minho, Trás-os-Montes and Beira, provinces .

The 20th century brought significant changes due to the popularization of beach tourism with several people from Northern Portugal, chiefly from Guimarães and Famalicão, moving to the city. Some Povoan fishing settlements were established in the Portuguese overseas provinces in Africa in the beginning of the 20th century and with the independence of these countries in the late 1970s, Póvoa became one of the main Portuguese cities to where the African Portuguese headed, thus this event had particular impact in the city. In the end of the century, there's observable immigration from Eastern Europe, China, Brazil and Angola.

Traditional society

Structure

Formerly the population was divided into different "castes" depending on their daily life activities: Lanchões — those who possessed boats that were capable of deep-water fishing, thus more prosperous; Rasqueiros — the fisher "bourgeoisie" that used "rasca" nets to fish ray, lobster and crabs Sardinheiros or Fanaqueiros — those who possessed small boats and could only catch fish of smaller size along the shore) Lavradores (the farmers), who lived separated from the fishermen. Lavrador is pronounced as "labrador". There were also the communities, who joined both ways of living: Sargaceiros — sargassum seaweed gatherers, used as a fertilizer in farm fields seareiros — who fished small common and unwanted swimming crabs, pilado locally, used to fertilize fields.

As a rule, the communities remained distinct, and mixed marriages between the different communities were forbidden, mostly because of the isolationism of the fishermen who were headed by a group of patriarchs. With the urban development and immigration at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, this caste structure is today only part of the past.

Values

Octávio Filgueiras noticed that "Appeared in Galicia boats and fishermen arriving from the north, after the critical period of the Viking and Norman raids" and "one of the most important features is the cultural unity of these fisher communities that used primitive ships". Filgueiras noticed that the use of family marks was one of the most distinctive traits of that cultural unity. This use occurred in Povoan and Danish fishermen but also in the Baltic, in the area of Danzig. The similarity of siglas poveiras and the Viking runic characters show immediate associations.

The traditional casamento poveiro (Povoan marriage), in which the newly-wed couple was covered by a fisherman's net and watered with vinho verde in order to bring fortune to the marriage, is becoming a forgotten practice. In Póvoa's tradition (that persists to the present day), the heir of the family is the youngest son (as in old Brittany and Denmark). The younger son is the heir because it was expected that he would take care of his parents when they became old. Also, unlike the rest of the nation, it is the woman who governs and leads the family – this matriarchy is derived from the fact that the man was usually fishing at sea. The Danish professor Heningser noticed that several features in the Povoan fishermen cultural life were similar to those found in the Jutland fjords, one of which, the women's sign of mourning, putting the skirt on the shoulders and throw the head, was found only in Northern Denmark and Póvoa de Varzim.

Saints stoning In the 19th century, a Povoan religious practice shocked the overwhelmingly Catholic country. An 1868 magazine article stated: "It is said, for a long time in Minho [Region], that the fishermen of Póvoa de Varzim were so superstitious, that the women when there were storms, and wanting to beg to their favorite saint or saints to free their husbands boats from the gorging ocean, they said absurd and extravagant blasphemies, like a savage people could do in front of the most ridiculous idols."

The author stated: "For this reason it is told that the women of the people, in dire straits, walked to the chapel of Saint Joseph, and there they stoned the saint, of such devotion to them, saying: "Wake up Saint Joseph, Wake up! You sh... saint Take care of my husband, or my son, Saint Joseph!"

And continued: "What is correct is that not only the women of Bairro de S.José district, but also the ones from Bairro da Lapa, that in a moment of overwhelming anxiety, when the angry and raging waves brought to the beach a cadaver with each wave; in those moments, the poor women reveal the pain that tormented them and went to the sand grounds and the ocean with a sad outcry and painful praying."

Mythology

Sea legends

The fishermen, who traveled to Newfoundland fishing cod, told stories of Eskimo women in loved by Povoan fishermen, shipwrecks, the visits to Saint John's and lost boats in the middle of the ocean, half true and half legend. The fishermen of the region are known to fish in Newfoundland since 1506.

The legend of Lady of Varzim (Senhora de Varzim), a 13th-century icon that appeared miraculously in the area of Largo das Dores (old town's square) over a rock with depressions similar to footprints, near the old main church of Póvoa de Varzim, an 11th-century Romanesque-Gothic temple, an area known to be populated by venomous reptiles, especially the Grande Cobra or the "Big Snake".

The Peixe grande or the "Big Fish" was the name that Povoans gave to a gigantic sea creature. On Sundays and holy days the fishermen did not go to sea because of a story concerning a Corpus Christi festival that brought numerous visitors to Póvoa de Varzim. Seeing several potential customers, the fishermen went to work at sea, and filled their boat with the best fish. The happy fishermen sailed back to Póvoa. Meanwhile, they noticed Peixe grande following them. The mestre (captain of the boat) saw this as a divine punishment, and the fishermen threw their catch to the water to defend themselves from the creature. Docking their empty boat, they kissed the sand and never more did the Povoan fishermen go to sea on holy days.

Supernatural beings in town