Title  Clandestine emigration in Europe in the 1960s. The case of Baixo Alentejo
Author  Domingas Maria Valentim Chaparro
Supervisor Hélder Adegar Fonseca
Year  2013
Institution University of Évora
Degree  Masters
Area  European historical studies
Keywords  Clandestine emigrant, engager/passenger
URI  http://dspace.uevora.pt/rdpc/handle/10174/15312

Abstract

Emigration is part of Portugal's history. For many decades, Portugal was considered a nation of emigrants. However, an analysis of national history allows us to see that the emigration cycle has undergone changes, specifically with regard to the destination chosen by the thousands of Portuguese who, due to various vicissitudes, decided to leave our country at some point in their lives. The year 1960 marks the beginning of a new phase in the emigration process. This phenomenon began to take on new forms. Europe, to the detriment of America, became the destination of choice. However, of the thousands of people who left our country, many did so illegally. Numerous were those who, in their eagerness for a better life, ventured across the borders illegally, or "salto", an expression widely used at the time to describe clandestine emigration. In Baixo Alentejo, clandestine emigration was the resort for many. Borderlands such as Vila Verde de Ficalho were the exit point for many illegal immigrants. In this dissertation, we intend to reconstruct some of the clandestine migration networks that operated in Baixo Alentejo in the 1960s.