Cadeia classificada monumento nacional

Settled in the south of Portugal since my retirement I largely enjoy this corner. After more than forty years putting up with bigwigs I deserve a better weather, better landscape and better hour hand.

Yes, this pad is my second house which allows me a permanent contact with the sun, the beach, the people.  I love riding a bike and when I go from home to wherever I feel the hours go by slowly. There are British, Irish, German and Dutch colonies here and all of us always say hello. It is as if a part of the Portuguese character had rubbed off us.

It´s true that the Portuguese people are correct and have good manners –like the British-  but they are closer than we are. For instance, in Britain, we shake hands on first meeting but not usually afterwards: they shake hands whenever they meet friends. We don´t touch and kiss each other in public very much; they are more affectionate.

In addition beer is cheaper than England!

At the same time I´m going brown outside a café I read some papers and last time…

“…a distribuição dos presos por estes espaços obedecía a criterios que deviam ter en conta o tipo de crime cometido, o estatuto social do detido e a capacidade para pagar a carceragem, no entanto, se bem que a ocupação devesse reger-se pelos Regulamentos existentes, eles foram sistemáticamente ignorados e a sobrelotação foi uma das características sempre presente.” 

When I saw the premises I thought I was watching the gaol where my cousins were banged up for a while in a long long prison sentence.

That jail was pulled down and a beautiful garden and a community centre were built in the same spot. If you were in the nick yesterday, you can sunbathe now. The customer service always at your disposal.

From what I´ve read, the preferential treatment was common in one place as in another. In one country as in the other. The plain truth is that if you have dough you will be treated much better than if you are a nonentity.

Inmates in all prisons are classified according their crimes but at the same term of imprisonment, a bloke will be bear his accommodation in a smoother way than other one. I heard about it through my relatives. Through them I knew that my cousins did not enjoy things that others did.

I´m glad that these buildins were knocked down or were “recycled” for educational purposes like the Cadeia da Relação do Porto.

From my Borstal.

LDR