People

Carlos Albino

Revolutionjournalist on Repúblicaco-author of the programme “Limite”

A journalist on República and one of the authors of “Limite”, he made sure that “Grândola, Vila Morena” was played on Rádio Renascença as the MFA’s signal, getting round both the station’s own censorship and the official one.

A journalist on República, he was one of the producers and writers of “Limite”, an independent programme that Rádio Renascença broadcast nationwide. He had done his military service at the Army Psychotechnical Studies Centre, where he had become friends with Carlos Fabião. On 22 March 1974 he learnt that the Movement would need a signal by radio, with national coverage, to set the barracks in motion, and he guaranteed that it would go out on “Limite”.¹

On 23 April, Álvaro Guerra, also a journalist on República and the link to Lieutenant Commander Almada Contreiras, asked him for “Venham Mais Cinco”, by José Afonso. Carlos Albino replied that the song was banned by Renascença’s internal censorship, although the official censorship tolerated it, and suggested alternatives — first among them, “Grândola, Vila Morena”.²⁵ The next day, Guerra brought the final choice: “Grândola”. Albino arranged the broadcast without anyone else on “Limite” knowing of the decision, and as a precaution he bought the record Cantigas de Maio: since December there had been signs that the PIDE was preparing a raid on the programme’s offices, in Praça de Alvalade.³

He then called in Manuel Tomás, the technical and sound manager of “Limite” and the man he trusted most. To get round both censorships — Renascença’s and the official one, a colonel who monitored the broadcasts live and approved the scripts — they agreed the details of the signal kneeling in São João de Brito Church, pretending to pray.⁴ Carlos Albino also wrote two texts for the censor to approve, meant to “wrap around” the signal, which Leite de Vasconcelos recorded without knowing what they were for. At 00:20 on 25 April, the first verse of “Grândola” went on air.⁶

On the walks

Places

In the timeline

23 Apr 1974
A «Grândola» é escolhida como senha no programa «Limite»
25 Apr 1974
«Grândola, Vila Morena» na Rádio Renascença confirma a revolução

They crossed paths with him

Leite de Vasconcelos
An announcer on “Limite”, he recorded, without knowing what it was for, the reading of the first verse of “Grândola, Vila Morena” that opened the MFA’s signal on Rádio Renascença at 00:20 on 25 April 1974.
José Afonso (Zeca Afonso)
1929–1987
A protest singer, persecuted by the censors and imprisoned by the PIDE/DGS in 1973. His “Grândola, Vila Morena” (Grândola, swarthy town), sung in chorus at the Coliseu in March 1974, was a month later the second signal of 25 April.
António de Spínola
1910–1996
A general and author of “Portugal e o Futuro” (Portugal and the Future), he received Marcelo Caetano’s surrender at the Carmo Barracks, presided over the National Salvation Junta and was President of the Republic until he resigned, on 30 September 1974. On 11 March 1975 he fled to Spain.
Costa Gomes
1914–2001
Chosen by the captains as a prestigious leader, he was a member of the National Salvation Junta, succeeded Spínola as President in September 1974, declared a state of siege on 25 November 1975 and promulgated the 1976 Constitution.
Helena Neves
b. 1945
A journalist and opposition activist, she was a prisoner in Caxias when 25 April came. The photograph of her release, with the journalist Elvira Nereu, appeared in “A Capital” on 27 April 1974.
Maria Teresa Horta
1937–2025
A poet and journalist, one of the “Three Marias”. The PIDE seized her “Minha Senhora de Mim” (My Lady of Myself) and three men beat her up in the street; with Maria Isabel Barreno and Maria Velho da Costa she wrote “Novas Cartas Portuguesas” (New Portuguese Letters), which took them to court — and to acquittal, on 7 May 1974.