Barreiro has a population of around 80,000 and nowadays a large part of the working population makes the 15-minute journey across the river daily to Lisbon to earn a living. The early history of the area can be traced back to Roman times and it played an important role during the centuries of the great Portuguese explorers by providing provisions for the long voyages which were manufactured from flour milled in the dozens of tide mills extending along the southern banks of the Tagus estuary. Many of these mills still stand and three can be seen immediately as one enters the bay by ferryboat from Lisbon. The name itself has been traced back to early 14th century documents when it was first given to what was then a river-side town specialising in salt production. Down through the centuries Barreiro and the neighbouring estuary banks have been associated with fishing and boat building.

 

photo: Guta de Carvalho

In the second part of the nineteenth century the character of the area was altered by the building of a railroad terminal near the centre of Barreiro which would serve as a link between the south of the country and the capital on the opposite bank of the Tagus. Then at the turn of the twentieth century businessman Alfredo da Silva created CUF, a huge chemical-industry based riverside complex, which was considered at the time to be one of the most forward-looking in Europe. With a cradle to grave workers? welfare policy it served as the major employer for generations of Barreiro inhabitants for much of the twentieth century but was already struggling to compete when the 1974 revolution took place and has been in steady decline since then.

 

photo: Guta de Carvalho

The decades after 1974 represented a period of stagnation for the area with most inhabitants seeking employment on the opposite shores of the river but since the late 90s there has been a period of visible growth in the area. ESTBarreiro itself was set up in 1998. There are now ambitious plans in place to redevelop much of the river-side former industrial areas which face Lisbon on the opposite bank of the Tagus and Barreiro has drawn international interest from a variety of sources including music group U2 who came in 2004 to be photographed for one of their albums and from Lusoamerican Oscar-winner Carlos de Matos who is aiming to set up a film-making complex in the city.

 

photo: Guilherme Ferreira, Barreiro Camara.