Title   Emigração clandestina para França: o Concelho do Sabugal (1960–1974) (Original)
          Clandestine emigration to France: the Municipality of Sabugal (1960–1974) (EN)
Author  Rui Miguel Amaral Paiva
Advisor  Maria João Vaz
Year  2015
Institution  ISCTE (University Institute of Lisbon)
Degree  Masters
Area  Modern and Contemporary History
Keywords  Smuggling, Clandestine emigration, Emigration networks, France
URI http://hdl.handle.net/10071/10445

Abstract

Emigration is a present phenomenon in the Portuguese social life, it is rooted in the Portuguese social tissue; we can say that it is part of the 'way of being' in the Portuguese society. Portuguese emigration to France in the 60s, early 70s of the twentieth century, reaches about one million Portuguese, bound for France. Sabugal, like many other Portuguese border municipalities, was also affected by the wave of emigration. In this dissertation we conduct a review of emigration from the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century in Sabugal municipality, bound for France. We gave special focus to the reasons why Sabugal county gathered ideal conditions for illegal emigration activity by land as well, the reason became one of the most affected municipalities demographically in the 60s of the century XX. We have also investigate the potential that the border geography presents for illegal crossing of migrants. The border area of the county leaked not only the natives of the villages of sabugalense streak, but also emigrants from all parts of the country, which there crossed "the leap", using the "services" rendered by experienced smugglers from Sabugal. The research was centred in the 60s and 70s of the twentieth century, because these were the most dynamic years in terms of emigration in the county. Our findings point to the centrality of Sabugal municipality on the phenomenon of illegal emigration, at the studied period. In addition to the historical background of the county, particularly entrenched smuggling practice, friendship between the Portuguese and Spanish people and on the other hand an inefficient performance of public authorities in the suppression of the phenomenon, a situation that was also the time when other border areas in Portugal, found in the relief and hydrography, a singular factor that is not the case in most of the Portuguese continental border area, "the dry streak", which had and has very propitious conditions for covert cross the border between Portugal and Spain.