At an altitude of more than a thousand meters, in the insular and rugged mountains of Alto Minho, is planted the village of Castro Laboriro, called “Boca Negra” by some of its inhabitants. “The ancients say the name comes from the black color of the mouth the dog de Castro Laboreiro”, also known as P3 Bruno Fernandez, photographer Albano RodasHe was born 33 years ago in this border village of Melkazo municipality.
In the films Castrejo has produced over the past seven years, an elderly woman guides our gaze. “My grandmother Maria plays an important role in the project,” he says. “At 83, she lives for the sun.” During the long summer days, Maria picks vegetables from the garden, walks the herd across the plains, and at the end of the day, exchanges a few words with her old and rarefied neighbors.
“Summer is a time for family lunches and get-togethers,” she adds. Although Bruno Castro did not live in Laboreiro, his family has roots in Paris, Prague and Porto for more than a century. “The village became my refuge; The serenity of landscapes makes me forget the stress of city life.”
The parish union where the village of Castro Laboriro is located has only 503 inhabitants. —less 23.4% from ten years ago, according to Population census The most recent. More than half are over 65, which spells a bleak future for those villages.
oh Depopulation This is the origin of countless challenges for those in the village. Without the people, it would be difficult to “maintain traditions, pilgrimages, popular festivals,” says The Photographer A resident of Porto, as well as “conserving the biodiversity of the region, its fauna and flora”. “Our dialectic is to defend Castro [o mais próximo do galaico-português], our dog and all intangible heritage is impossible, which is passed down from generation to generation. The lack of public services, “increasingly rare in the countryside”, only scares off those who want access, he insists.
Castro Laboreiro’s winters are long, dark and very cold. “People know how to adapt to a hostile area with an adverse climate,” he guarantees. A small part of the population still divides stay Between mild and winter, according to the seasons. This is not the case with Grandma Maria, who lives in one place all year round. “During the winter months, she knits, in the solitude of memories by the fireplace, her only escape.”
Maria was one of many women who survived the painful 20th century. “Being is one Settlement villagemen went abroad to find work, to be able to buy property and build houses”, emphasizes Bruno. His two grandfathers lived in France and always left their wives in the village of Minho. Your grandparents’ parents were already immigrants. — But the target, then Brazil.
The girls of Castro Laborero lived without parents, without grandparents, who did not return for years. “They left the women in their black dresses, who took on all the responsibilities: taking care of the children, tending the animals, summer crops, changing the house between mild and winter.”
In addition, they traveled km Traffic routes, during the night, “evading the border guards, they loaded up with goods bought at reasonable prices in Spain”. “My grandmother was one of those women,” says Bruno proudly. “Therefore, the highlight of the program is for the Castreja woman, in general, her strength and her important role in family maintenance.”
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”