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BRAGA 24: A CITY DIVIDED BETWEEN
PAST AND FUTURE?
In his yea o 2025, he ci y o B aga is deemed as he “Po uguese Capi al o Cul u e”. The name comes a e an
unsuccess ul a emp o become he “2027 Eu opean Capi al o Cul u e” in an elec ion held in 2023. The winne was
É o a, which led o he o he inalis s (A ei o, B aga and Pon a Delgada) sha ing he i le o “Po uguese Capi al o
Cul u e” successi ely in 2024, 2025 and 2026, espec i ely (Magalhães, 2023).
In my case, I a i ed in he ci y in mid-July 2024 and a e a ew in ense days, such as he
da e o my a i al
and he
misad en u es
ha I’ e na a ed in he las ew mic o-essays, I inally decided o y ou he ci y cen e and hus ge
some i s imp essions “on he spo ” o wha his bi-millennial ci y o Roman descen would be like.
When I le home, my in en ion was o go o a e y adi ional es au an and ea a
Bacalhau à B aga
, a e all, being in
Po ugal calls o a
Bacalhau
[Cod ish] and no hing could be ai e han ha ing one in he ci y’s s yle, igh ? The chosen
des ina ion was he es au an “
Águas de Bacalhau
” [Cod ish Wa e s], no only because i had ‘bacalhau’ in i s name,
which o me showed ha he dish would be a special y o he house, bu also because o i s good e iews and
loca ion, e y close o he “
A co da Po a No a
” [A ch o he New Ga e], an iconic monumen in he ci y ha symbolizes
he “open doo ” by which he ci y is commonly e e ed o.
Howe e , i was I who was le in “cod ish wa e s”, as I a i ed a e 3pm and he es au an was al eady closed. A he
ime, I s ill didn’ know ha , he e in Po ugal, s aying in “cod ish wa e s” means “ o ail, o emain he same, o esul in
no hing, o be ui less” (
Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2025
), bu I soon lea ned. Ano he us a ion was
disco e ing ha he supposedly “ adi ional” es au an was no wha I had expec ed, i.e. i had opened in 2022 and he
menu showed a a he young and plu al iden i y, bo h in i s language and in he a ailabili y o ypical dishes om
di e en coun ies, including my own B azil and my A gen ine neighbo s. As I le he “
Águas de Bacalhau
” es au an
and headed owa ds he “
A co da Po a No a
”, I ound wha would ul ill my ini ial desi e: he “Inácio” es au an . This
was a ypical Po uguese es au an , al eady om i s own cons uc ion, a e y us ic and classic s one house.
Un o una ely, I couldn’ y i ou because he es au an , which had been he e since 1931, had been closed o a
leas h ee yea s. I ended my sea ch o a “
bacalhau à B aga
” a he “
La Po a
” es au an , which I suspec ed was
Spanish; howe e , i is an I alian es au an and opened in 2019.
Figu e 1. The young menu a “
Águas de Bacalhau
”
Figu e 2. The açade o he adi ional “Inácio”
Figu e 3. The “
Bacalhau à B aga
” om “
La Po a
”
A e lunch, I began my walk h ough he cen e o B aga, and was soon su p ised by he la ge numbe o s o es ha
we e closed and lo s o cons uc ion wo k being ca ied ou h oughou he cen e . Among he closed s o es, he e
we e all kinds, om sou eni s o es o pas y s o es and es au an s. I seemed ha o e e y 2 s o es open, he e was
1 closed.
Figu es 4 o 6: Closed s o es in B aga
On my way up o see
Sé
, B aga’s amous Ca hed al, I ecognized a s ee a is ha I had seen on a ou is p og am on
my ligh o Po ugal. Howe e , he space a ailable o his a was al eady a li le smalle , as he sha ed he iny s ee
wi h a building s ill unde cons uc ion, making i e en mo e di icul o s op and enjoy his a . Su ounding he a is , I
no iced some g a i i ha b ough a “you h ul” soul o he ci y, al hough hose isi ing he cen e on ha sunny
Sa u day we e limi ed o ou is s, “ adi ional” amilies (dad, mom and kids) and olde people (o e 60). Among hese
s ee a , I’d like o highligh he g a i i “Sh ek is lo e, Sh ek is li e” – a e y popula meme among he so-called
gene a ion Z – and exp essions o a poli ical na u e, such as an ana chic A and “An i a” (sho o an i- ascis ), which
appea s wice, being c ossed ou in one o hem.
Figu e 7 – Musician sha ing space wi h he building unde cons uc ion
Figu es 8 and 9. G a i i in he ci y cen e
A he end o his sho walk, I a i e a B aga’s Ca hed al. Bu i ’s no his his o ic monumen ha ca ches my eye a
i s , as I no ice ha nex o i , whe e a sou eni s o e is loca ed, he e a e a numbe o newspape s co e ing i s açade.
The s o e wasn’ open and he newspape s ca ied some headlines ha deno ed Po ugal a ha ime: “
In es , in es ,
in es . The companies’ mo o o g ow h
”; “
In la ion isk pu s he b akes on eupho ia o e in e es a e cu s
”; “
Banks be on
consume c edi
”; “
Regis e ed unemploymen has been on a ise o six mon hs
”; “
Real es a e sec o conside s Simplex
posi i e, bu has doub s
”.
When I e u n my gaze o he imposing B aga Ca hed al, I eel he weigh o i s en i e his o y and disconnec om ha
momen o imagine how i was buil du ing he Middle Ages. I ’s s ill su eal o me o imagine ha he ca hed al’s
his o y p eda es he cons uc ion o my homeland as such, ha is, be o e he a i al o he Po uguese in my belo ed
B azil. Re lec ing on his obse a ion, I u n o Wal e Benjamin (1935/2012, p. 19) and he concep o au hen ici y o
he wo k o a : “The he e and now o he o iginal cons i u es he concep o i s au hen ici y and on he ounda ion o
his lies he ep esen a ion o a adi ion ha has led his objec o he p esen day as being he same and iden ical
objec ”.
Nex o me, he e’s a g oup o elde ly Po uguese ladies on a guided ou o he ci y o B aga. I hen hea hem: “We
should do his mo e o en. I ha dly lea e he house and I ha en’ seen he Ca hed al o yea s”. I si by he ca hed al
and wa ch a g oup o child en playing in he s ee s, no icing ha hey don’ look a he ca hed al a any ime.
Figu e 10. The açade and i s headlines
Figu e 11. The ca hed al and i s g andeu
The concep o au a, in Wal e Benjamin (1935/2012, p. 27), can be unde s ood as “a s ange hin ab ic o space and
ime: he unique appea ance o a dis ance, howe e close i may be”. In my a emp o de ine he “au a o B aga”, I
would explici a eeling o “ ime a el”. In his case, o a ew momen s when I looked a and ouched B aga Ca hed al, I
a eled o a medie al B aca a Augus a. Bu is his he con empo a y B aga?
Ci ies unde go des uc u ing and es uc u ing o e ime and space, as Le eb e (1968/2008) ells us. I , when I isi ed
B aga Ca hed al, I was able o ha e his expe ience o “ a eling back in ime” and going back o i s his o ici y, he es
o my walks showed he opposi e, wi h he di e en buildings unde cons uc ion, he adi ional s o es and
es au an s ha ha e closed and he imid exp essions o you h ulness ( eenage s and young adul s) on he walls o
he ci y. A you h ulness ha I couldn’ see on he g ound du ing my day ime walk, pe haps because hey eel mo e a
home in a nigh ime en i onmen . I ’s also wo h poin ing ou ha , du ing his b ie passage, I didn’ come in o con ac
wi h any B azilians o o he immig an g oups enjoying he ci y; I only no iced hem wo king, ei he p o iding se ice a
es au an ables o se ing cus ome s in s o es.
Finally, I’m le wonde ing whe he B aga 25 – he Po uguese capi al o cul u e – will help he ci y de ine i s cu en
iden i y o whe he an e en ual ou is i ica ion could u he cannibalize i s iden i y, commodi ying i s memo ies,
s o ies and he i age, in line wi h ecen s udies on he ci y o Po o (Sil a, Ribei o & A aújo, 2022).
Tex and images:
Lucas No ais
(CECS/Uni e si y o Minho)
Published in Ap il 17, 2025
Re e ences
Academia das Ciências de Lisboa. (2025).
Fica em águas de bacalhau – Dicioná io da Língua Po uguesa
. Dicioná io da
Língua Po uguesa. Acessado em Feb ua y 26, 2025, a pa i de h ps://diciona io.acad-ciencias.p /cu iosidades/ ica -
em-aguas-de-bacalhau/
Benjamin, W. (1935/2012).
A ob a de a e na época de sua ep odu ibilidade écnica
(F. D. A. P. Machado, T ad.). Zouk.
Le eb e, H. (1968/2008).
O di ei o à cidade
(R. E. F. F ias, T ad.). Cen au o Edi o a.
Magalhães, P. (2023, Ap il 12). B aga usa á í ulo de Capi al Po uguesa da Cul u a pa a “celeb a ” c iação nacional.
Público
. h ps://www.publico.p /2023/04/12/local/no icia/b aga-usa a- i ulo-capi al-po uguesa-cul u a-celeb a -
c iacao-nacional-2045890#google_ igne e
Sil a, M., Ribei o, R., & A aújo, E. (2022). The ou is e a in he ci y o Po o: Enchan men , suspension and
(un)sus ainabili y. In Z. Pin o-Coelho & H. Pi es (Eds.),
The Ci y o he Senses, he Senses in he Ci y
(pp. 103-129). UMinho
Edi o a.
LOCALIZAÇÃO
Map
Sa elli e
Repo a map e o Keyboa d sho cu s
Map da a ©2025 Google Te ms
LOCAL:
BRAGA
LATITUDE:
41.5499885
LONGITUDE:
-8.4269012
SIGA-NOS
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