Portuguese workers issued a spontaneous “Ja chega!” _ “That’s enough!” _ to the government, rejecting its appeal to stay at their jobs during Carnival, one of their most beloved holidays.
Elaborate costumes, scary masks and eye-popping wigs trumped dreary economic austerity for a people who have suffered deeply in Europe’s debt crisis but have not rioted, set streets aflame or heaved chunks of marble at police like their fellow bailout colleagues, the Greeks.
The streets of Lisbon, the capital, were deserted and eerily quiet Tuesday, resembling a typical Sunday morning. Offices stood empty and banks were shuttered. Well over half of workers stayed home, local media estimated.
Instead, tens of thousands of people, many dressed in colorful handmade costumes and men often in drag, attended traditional street parades around the country featuring elaborate floats, loud Brazilian samba music and dancing.
The mild, sunny winter day was apparently just the ticket for the austerity blues.
Carlos Miguel, the mayor of Torres Vedras, a town famous for its celebrations, said Carnival’s deep cultural roots ensured its survival.
“If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t have the country at a virtual standstill today,” he said.
The Portuguese revolt gave a political edge to an occasion that around the world is linked to Catholic religious rituals but mostly reserved for drunken revelry and scanty costumes.
And party they did.
In Rio de Janeiro, at the most famous Carnival of them all, an estimated 850,000 tourists joined the city’s massive five-day blowout.
