“The Guardian” discovers a village in Cabeça: it is the “Christmas capital of Portugal” | star saw
This Christmas, a village in Cabeça was more in the mouths of the world than usual. It is true that here at Fugas we are already used to highlighting Christmas in this seductive village in Serra da Estrela, including this year, with the necessary adaptations to the pandemic.
But the British newspaper The Guardian he was also enchanted by that towering town that decorates itself with naturalness and tradition every year: It is “the Christmas capital of Portugal”, headlines the newspaper in its travel section and sees itself in the foreground, followed by suggestions like Bruges , Vilnius, Tallinn, Colmar and Prague.
The article was the highlight of Natal and the report followed as “every year this community at the top of the mountain becomes the Aldeia de Natal, a rustic and festive land of artisan wonders that attracts visitors from all over”. And, with this article in mind, it’s quite possible that in 2022 there will be more…
nelson brash
The report follows preparations for Christmas in Cabeça, referring to how in the last eight years the approximately 170 inhabitants have transformed a village into a “rustic winter wonderland”.
Among the inhabitants working on the famous natural decorations of the village, journalist Oliver Balch, who signs the report, still discovers the broth, black pudding or alheira or woodpecker and makes the suggestion of discovering more projects of the mountain villages.
Cabeça, Aldeia Natal is an initiative in which the decoration is different every year, but it is always eco-decorated, which is why some ornaments from previous editions are also taken advantage of and restored. José Marques and Luísa Dias are Cabeça’s creatives and spend “almost the entire year thinking” about what they will do each Christmas, as José explained to Fugas here.
The village pavilion becomes a “factory” of Christmas decorations and where a population of the village concentrates their days. In addition to the schist decorations, there is also an entertainment program, in the last two years. connected and/or adapted to the pandemic.
The article for The Guardian is available here.
