Combatentes do Ultramar

Difficult. There are still people of the opinion that the colonies should never have been abandoned.

Once you’re done with the Torre de Belém, take a two-minute walk further. Here awaits a controversial monument honoring the Portuguese soldiers who became victims of the colonial wars. Terrible, about 10,000 people who deserve a memorial site. Even Grandpa Carambola had to join the army, but as a young father, he was lucky enough to be allowed to work in the kitchen. So yes, the issue is important and still relevant.

The problem lies more in the reception. The ”Monument to the Fighters Overseas” is initiated by a veterans’ association with the belief that they defended their homeland. The burning symbol of this is the ”Flame of the Motherland,” protected by columns that tower over a symbolic sea. At the opening in 1994, the President is accused of left-wing orientation because he doesn’t want to chair a memorial committee.

The wall with the names of the deceased comes six years later, along with a few plaques for relativization — after all, there are also victims in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique who, according to the logic of the Estado Novo, are just as Portuguese. But of course, that’s a desecration. Well, it’s a difficult topic, even in our market hall, where grandmothers ask for fruit from the colonies.

There's also good news: a few minutes further, you can escape the gastronomic hell of Belém. Either at the upscale Darwin's Café on the grounds of the Champalimaud Foundation or with a small detour thanks to the main road at the simple Tasca O Gordo.