If you think of Portugal what comes up to your mind?
Well that’s a good question.
You may come up with a postcard photo - a
cliffy beach in Algarve, or maybe
Belém Tower in Lisbon, or even the
Vasco da Gama bridge (longest in Europe).
If you are interested in personalities and history maybe you can think of
Henry the Navigator with his large Burgundian hat (at the monument to the Discoverers). Or if you like politics maybe you think of
José Barroso, the president of the European Commission.
You may come up with a product -like a glass of
Port wine or
olive oil- or an artifact made of
cork (Portugal produces over 50% of cork worldwide). You may choose a gastronomy item such as a yummy
custard tart or a
smoked pork meet sausage.
You may even come up with a cliché such as a
Lisbon's yellow tram.
We are going to meet in Cascais; well, there are a few monuments or buildings that could be chosen as logo, like the
citadel (fortress) or the recently renovated
Santa Marta lighthouse, or even the nearby
casino.
Now you see. It was tough to choose a logo for the Euromeet and we ended up choosing another cliché.
You may call it kitsch but
the cockerel from Barcelos is kind of “unofficial symbol of Portugal”. It was even used as mascot for some big sport events organized in Portugal.
In any souvenir or tourist shop you will find the symbol represented by a colorful ceramic cockerel and the motif is embroidered in towels, aprons, stamped on key chains, paper weights, etc. Because of its lively colors, the cockerel of Barcelos is difficult not to notice wherever it appears. The motif seems to embody the love of life displayed by the Portuguese people. Nevertheless, I saw already cockerels painted in American, French or Swiss flags. And at an international arena this cockerel was the origin of the logo of the famous
international food chain company -Nando’s-.
The symbol has its genesis in the history of
Barcelos, a town located just east of
Braga. The legend of the cockerel is so old that no one knows for sure the real source but it goes like that:
Back in the 14th C. at a banquet given by a rich landowner in Barcelos, a valuable piece of silver was stolen by a guest. The rich man accused a pilgrim on the way to Santiago de Compostela, and let him go to court. The pilgrim protested his innocence, but the judge didn't believe him and the penalty was death. Actually the judge wanted to quickly solve the question as he was hungry and was about to eat a roasted cockerel. Then the pilgrim said: “If I am innocent, may this cockerel get up and crow”. When the pilgrim was about to be hanged, and to everyone’s astonishment (and luckily for the pilgrim) the cockerel did rise and crowed heartily. The judge released the pilgrim and the story ends a few years later when the pilgrim returned and made a pottery statue over the event.
That’s why the cockerel is since then associated with the faith, the justice and the good luck.
We wish you good luck on your way to Cascais and we have faith that you will enjoy this meeting as much as we do.
Cheers
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