Cacém_en
Life is calm and the streets are mostly silent, on any given day of the week. The few shops that are open consist mainly of minimarts, cake shops and cafés. The Cacém shopping centre—the only thing that seems to have resisted the change in shopping habits—stands as a sort of time capsule that reminds you of local shopping centres in the 1990s: you can eat Cape Verdean cachupa in the Cantinho África da Bela, there’s a hairdresser’s, a barber’s and a space to braid, and the children can insert a coin to ride on the tram, motorcycle or plane.
While not one of the most populous parishes in Portugal, Cacém e São Marcos does have the highest population density per square kilometre. You can hear a plethora of languages at every turn: in the restaurants, on terraces, at the school gates. Portuguese—with both a Portuguese and Brazilian accent—is joined by Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean creole which hit the higher notes in this symphony that is a reflection of the people who live here.
The benches of cement and wood dotted around give people a place to rest their legs after going shopping, or to simply to stop and watch children and adults playing football, while visitors sit on the terraces to try the famous Sintra travesseiro and queijada pastries from the Dona Estefânia café. They share their public space with all the people running for office in the National Assembly, from the Left Block to Chega, who are present in the form of posters, strategically hung at traffic lights and on electricity poles.
Cacém e São Marcos comprises half the municipality of Agualva-Cacém, which used to be a small agricultural village, located on the Ribeira das Jardas. The Lisbon-Sintra trainline, the arrival of people from all over the world, and the urban planning after the 25 April 1974 revolution, all changed the demographic, social and economic profile of this periphery of Lisbon.
Today, the territory is split into two joint parishes: Agualva e Mira Sintra and Cacém e São Marcos, with the Ribeira das Jardas marking the border between the two. They are neighbouring territories, and not just geographically: in both, the populations are a mix of people of all colours, beliefs and cultures, the majority of whom spend their days working elsewhere and only come home to sleep.
37%
More than half the population didn’t vote in the 2024 parliamentary elections. Abstention was down 10% in comparison with the 2022 parliamentary elections (46%) and the Socialist Party still got the most votes.
Source: Secretariat General Ministry of the Interior
“They’re all corrupt. When there are elections, we just see yet another corrupt politician in. I just go to get the vote out of the way. I work to earn my living, but when I go down the Avenida dos Bons Amigos to the station, I just see unemployed people lying there.”
Nuno, 47 years old, truck driver
“There’s nothing to respect or learn in politics today. They aren’t worried about abstention, nothing about it encourages people to look after the place they’re from or where they’ve ended up, nor does it incentivise people to get up off the sofa and leave the popcorn behind to go to the polling station. There are people who have always voted, like me, who are now asking if it is worth going.”
Lídia, 51 years old, teacher
“I arrived from Cape Verde 20 years ago. I’ve worked on construction sites, in the Amadora-Sintra Hospital canteen, in warehouses and selling sofas in Cabra Figa [Rio de Mouro], in a paper factory… Now, I work with my mum in this coffee shop [Cantinho África da Bela], from eight in the morning ’til eight at night. I don’t have time to watch the news and keep up to date with politics.”
Ivanildo, 30 years old, café attendant
8938
inhabitants/km2
It is the second most densely populated parish in Portugal.
Source: Census 2021
23%
Percentage of foreign citizens living in Cacém e São Marcos, out of a total of 39,683 residents. The majority are Brazilians (23%), followed by Cape Verdeans (21%) and Angolans (19%).
Source: Census 2021
“I had two jobs in Brazil, and here’s the same: I am a locksmith by day and a delivery driver by night. I don’t have time to stay up to date with politics. I don’t vote here, or in Brazil. I don’t feel like I understand enough to make an informed decision.”
Breno, 25 years old, locksmith and delivery driver
“I’ve been in Portugal for 20 years, I never got citizenship because I got into trouble with the law. Now I have to wait, I can’t vote… But would my vote change anything anyway? I don’t know… I might vote if there were a party and a person who I believed in. In the end politicians are in charge of our future and that of our kids.”
Ivanildo, 30 years old, café attendant
“I’m from Cape Verde, I arrived a year ago. I still don’t have Portuguese nationality, so I can’t vote. If I could, I would… I always voted in Cape Verde. People say Portugal is in a bad way. Before, life cost less; today food and housing are more expensive, which is even harder for foreigners like me.”
Denilsa, 22 years old, café attendant
76%
The percentage of inhabitants who completed compulsory education is higher than the national median (47%) and far from the parish with the lowest proportion of residents who have completed year 12, which is São Vicente, in Vila Real (7%).
Source: Census 2021
“Critical thinking isn’t encouraged. Nor is training and education in the real sense of the words. Perhaps because it’s convenient if people don’t have strong opinions… In the school where I teach, we went from having nearly all Portuguese students to nearly all foreigners. Many don’t speak Portuguese, they don’t even speak English.”
Lídia, 51 years old, teacher
“I didn’t used to follow politics much, but since becoming an adult and getting into the daily grind… I think they should give less benefits to those who do nothing, and give more support to those who work. There is work, but it isn’t paid as well as it should be. I’m young, I still live with my parents because it’s expensive having your own house.”
Ricardo, 27 years old, market trader
18%
Percentage of the population working in the automotive sector (wholesale, retail, and repair and sale). This is the most important sector in the parish as regards employment.
Source: Census 2021
10658
Number of people who work outside the municipality, which is 54% of the total employed population (19,599).
Source: Census 2021
“I worked in a factory, but I’ve been a market trader in Cacém for 35 years. I don’t have time to watch TV, I don’t listen to the radio either… I hear what my customers say about politics and politicians. I usually vote, I don’t know if I make the right decision. I do my duty, but the country is in a mess, it’s a disaster. Politicians all steal and we—the people— have to pay for it.”
Maria Isabel, 59 years old, market trader
“Before I was in Spain. I got back at the beginning of February, and transport has already gone up, the price changes every year. I see people jumping the gates because they have to go to work, but they don’t have money for the ticket. It’s not all about tolls and fuel… The State needs to help people.”
Alfa, 55 years old, train driver
“We just watch the parties fighting each other, politicians don’t care about presenting a decent plan for health, education, housing… the basics. At the moment the clash is between parties, not ideas. The perks politicians get need to end, because we only go to the doctor when it hurts.”
Umilta, 72 years old, retired banker
64%
Cacém e São Marcos parish union was in the top ten Portuguese parishes for abstention in the 2021 local elections.
Source: Secretariat General Ministry of the Interior
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