On the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, the Portuguese celebrated this event despite the confinement, singing at their windows or even taking to the streets. They notably sang the national anthem and the song "Grandola Vila Morena", symbol of the end of the dictatorship. 

The Portuguese celebrated the 46th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution on Saturday by singing at their windows, thereby circumventing the ban on gathering for traditional popular parades due to the coronavirus pandemic.

At 3 p.m. local time (2 p.m. GMT), many, red carnations in hand or greeting their neighbors, sang the song "Grandola Vila Morena", symbol of the military coup which on 25 April 1974 ended 48 years of fascist dictatorship and thirteen years of colonial wars, then the national anthem.

Em Lisboa, hoje, 25 de abril: Grândola Vila Morena sendo cantada nas sacadas celebrando a Revolução dos Cravos and redemocratização de Portugal. pic.twitter.com/lqiCGx1Tl7https://t.co/lqiCGx1Tl7

- Eriberto Leão (@eribertoleao) April 25, 2020

The appeal relayed by the media and social networks had been supported by the Association April 25, heir to the "movement of captains" who paved the way for the advent of democracy, as well as by several left parties or the town hall from Lisbon.

"It's a little sad not to be able to be on the street"

"It's a little sad not to be able to be on the street, but putting yourself out the window is the only possible street at the moment," testified Élisabete Figueiredo, a university professor living in Aveiro (north) .

CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS 

> Can France hope for a more favorable scenario than Italy? 

> Are women and people with blood type O more resistant? 

> Are certain serious forms linked to a genetic factor? 

> How will the distribution of masks take place in France? 

> Back to school on May 11: under what conditions?

"What defines April 25 is this freedom to take to the streets to celebrate the end of a sad time in our history," added the 53-year-old woman, one of the first to have suggested this alternative mode of celebrate the anniversary of the revolution.

But um vídeo da celebração da Revolução dos Cravos nas janelas de Portugal neste # 25deabrilpic.twitter.com / 4tODFHlRfZ

- Lucas Rohan (@lucasrohan) April 25, 2020

A ceremony in Parliament

In Parliament, the main political leaders participated in the morning in a ceremony reduced to a minimum, in order to respect the health rules of social distancing. "It is in these exceptional times of pain, suffering, mourning, separation and confinement that it is most important to evoke the fatherland, independence, the Republic, freedom and democracy", declared the conservative president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in his speech during a session in Parliament which, according to some right-wing elected representatives, should have been canceled.

>> READ ALSO - Portugal and its success against the coronavirus

"The state of emergency does not suspend democracy," Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa wrote on his Twitter account. Portugal, which has not been hit as hard as neighboring Spain by the coronavirus pandemic, has nonetheless recorded 880 deaths and more than 23,000 reported cases of Covid-19, according to an official report published on Saturday.