E-Journal

Barcelos: The Third Youngest Portuguese City

Written by Ricardo, Sílvia and Nelson

Barcelos is medium-size town located in the north of Portugal, in the Minho Region. It’s the district with most villages in Portugal: 89. It has 124 468 inhabitants and a high population density – 327,9 hab/km - according to the latest projections, of which 20 625 live into the town. It has the third highest percentage of young people in Portugal. The number of people between 0-14 is 17,9%, and between 15-24 it’s 14,2% of its population.

These are big figures for a country whose birth rate is decreasing. Moreover, it is remarkable, when people go there. The town itself is always full of teens and the reason is that it has three secondary schools, besides of all the junior highs schools it has in its villages. All the three secondary schools are located in the heart of the town and have about 5000 students together, and many of them don’t even live in the town. They come from the urbanized villages around it everyday by bus or train. Besides that, there is also a small university, which is a big step for a town that’s not even one of the most important ones in the country. This reflects how Barcelos is still young. Has Elazig got lots of students, too?

However, Barcelos hasn’t many places where teenagers can hang out. That’s why in the weekends many teens go out to other nearby cities that have more infrastructures where to go, such as bigger shopping centers. In fact there are an huge amount of things that Barcelos could take advantage of, like the riverside, that’s obviously forgotten, and its population, of course. With a high youth rate they could allow the construction of some other leisure and entertainment buildings. What about leisure places there, in your city?

Barcelos may not be a big town, though it’s possible to see people from different races and different countries here. The Chinese shops are everywhere in the town. But we can see this better if we go to the popular street-market on Thursdays. Some of the sellers are gypsies and they sell most. Cultural differences aren’t a conflicting factor here. People live peacefully. Has Elazig great differences among people, cultures or lifestyles? Is it a problem or do you live peacefully?