The president of the Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared Persons (AFAPREDESA) participates in the Festa do Avante in Portugal at the invitation of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP).
The Secretary-General of the Communist Party receives the flag of the Sahrawi Republic and a report on the extermination of the Sahrawi people by the Moroccan occupation forces.
The Festa do Avante! is the great annual festival of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), a mass political-cultural event that combines music, debates, gastronomy, sports, theatre, exhibitions, and internationalist solidarity. Regarding the Sahrawi question, the PCP and the Festa itself have consistently and actively maintained support for the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, for the Polisario Front as their legitimate representative, and for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) as guarantor of the sovereignty of the Sahrawi people, in opposition to the Moroccan occupation and to the recent stances of certain Western governments supporting the occupier and its policies of illegal exploitation of natural resources.
The Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared Persons (AFAPREDESA) wishes to thank the PCP for its kind invitation to this great international solidarity event and takes this opportunity to:
Make known to the internationalist movement in Portugal and worldwide the grave situation suffered by the Sahrawi people for over 50 years as a consequence of the brutal Moroccan occupation, facilitated by the last Franco government (under the command of Juan Carlos as acting Head of State) and maintained through the complacency of successive Spanish governments, with the current socialist government of Pedro Sánchez being the most submissive and compliant with Rabat, considering the Moroccan autonomy solution to be “the most serious, realistic and credible” (upcoming posts on this website).
Bring to the Sahrawi people the successful experience of the Festa do Avante (this first entry on the website regarding Sahrawi participation).
On this first day of the Festival, we deal exclusively with the Festa do Avante! and its relationship with the cause of the Sahrawi people:
Origin and history of the Festa do Avante!
It was born in September 1976, shortly after the Carnation Revolution (April 25, 1974), when the PCP emerged from clandestinity. It was inspired by festivals of sister parties such as the Fête de l’Humanité (France) or the Festa dell’Unità (Italy). It annually brings together hundreds of thousands of participants and has consolidated itself as the largest demonstration of organizational and popular strength in Portugal.
It went through several locations (Jamor, Alto da Ajuda/Monsanto, Loures) until, after a fundraising campaign, the PCP acquired in 1989-1990 the Quinta da Atalaia (Seixal, near Lisbon), its permanent headquarters since then (later expanded). It is always held on the first weekend of September (Friday to Sunday) and is open to the public with a low-cost entrance fee. It is built and managed mainly by volunteer militants of the PCP and the Portuguese Communist Youth (JCP), making it a “collective work.”
It includes multiple stages (the main one being 25 de Abril), concerts of various genres (fado, cante alentejano, rock, classical music, international), theatre, cinema, book and record fairs, political and historical exhibitions, children’s spaces, sports, women’s, youth, regional pavilions, and the “Cidade Internacional” (stands of communist parties, liberation movements, and friendly countries). It culminates with a large closing rally with interventions from the JCP, the director of the Avante! newspaper, and the PCP’s secretary-general. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors (not only militants), serves as a sounding board for workers’ struggles (wages, public services, fight against right-wing policies), and is a space for popular sociability.
For the PCP, it is an expression of the “values of April,” of trust in social transformation, of resistance, and of internationalism. It is the largest political-cultural event in Portugal and a symbol of the PCP’s mobilizing capacity.
The PCP’s position on the Sahrawi question
The PCP firmly and consistently defends the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, in accordance with international law, the UN Charter, and relevant resolutions (non-self-governing territory pending decolonization). It considers the Moroccan occupation since 1975 (following the Green March and the Madrid Accords) illegal, supports the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative and the SADR, demands the referendum promised since the 1991 ceasefire (never held due to Moroccan obstacles), the release of political prisoners, an end to repression, and respect for human rights in the occupied territories.
It rejects the Moroccan “autonomy plan” (presented in 2007) as it understands it as a legitimization of the occupation. It has harshly criticized the rapprochement of successive Portuguese governments to the Moroccan position (including the current Government’s support for that plan as the “most serious and credible basis” in 2025), as well as the US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty and the stances of European powers. It has sent delegations to refugee camps and liberated territories, participated in SADR commemorations, and promoted parliamentary and solidarity initiatives.
This stance is framed within the PCP’s internationalism (solidarity with Palestine, Cuba, anti-colonial liberation movements, etc.) and in the memory of Portuguese decolonization (East Timor is often cited as a positive parallel with the Sahrawi cause).
Treatment at the Festa do Avante!
The Sahrawi cause has a regular and visible presence in the Cidade Internacional:
Stands and pavilions of the Polisario Front / representation in Portugal, the Sahrawi diaspora, and the Portuguese solidarity movement.
In recent years, a tent (jaima) has been set up, showing the living conditions of Sahrawi refugees and informative material on the liberation struggle.
Visits by PCP leaders (including Secretary-General Paulo Raimundo) to the Sahrawi stand, sometimes accompanied by high-profile personalities participating in the event.
Debates, bilateral meetings, solidarity conferences, and exhibitions of Sahrawi art or documents.
Participation of Sahrawi delegations in the festival’s political and cultural activities.
The Sahrawi cause is part of the space of solidarity with peoples struggling against imperialism and colonialism. The ¡Avante! newspaper has also played a role in disseminating the cause in Portugal and has been read and relayed in Sahrawi media.
The Festa do Avante! is both a mass cultural phenomenon and a political instrument that projects the vision of another possible world. The treatment of the Sahrawi question is unequivocal: active, permanent, and public solidarity with the Sahrawi people and with the Polisario Front, in contrast to the complacent and Morocco-aligned evolution of certain Western policies. This consistency is maintained both in the party’s statements and in the festival’s concrete practice.