Coimbra, 01 Jun 2020 (Lusa) - Portugal dos Pequenitos, in Coimbra, reopened today, World Children's Day, with security measures in the face of the pandemic of covid-19 and free entry for the little ones during this month in which it celebrates 80 years.
At the reopening, the leaders of the Bissaya Barreto Foundation (FBB), owner of the recreational space, prepared a circuit that takes visitors in a single direction, starting with the Indian Ocean (flags of Mozambique, India, Timor in Macau) and then by the Archipelago of the Azores and Portugal Monumental, representative of Ribatejo, Beira Litoral, Lisbon, Alentejo and Algarve, to the space of portuguese regional houses.
The return is made by Coimbra, with access to the cultural set of the Paço das Escolas da Universidade, Minho, Porto and Trás-os-Montes, then passing through the Atlantic Ocean, represented by the representative space of the island of Madeira and buildings of Cape Verde, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola.
If in the early hours of the morning today there were still few children in Portugal of the Little Ones - a situation that was changing throughout the day, with several families accessing the park, as found by the agency Lusa on site - the first to use the space were the students of the Children's House that occupies the southern top of the enclosure and in whose garden the doctor Bissaya Barreto idealized, in the 1940s, the representative space of the Portuguese of the time, colonial empire included.
Speaking to Lusa, Ivo Pimentel, fbb's administrator, highlighted the Foundation's "mission" in maintaining the park idealized by its patron.
"The Portugal dos Pequenitos is born as a garden of the Children's House. Argued.
"It is born because of children, but it is not a theme park, it is a playful-pedagogical garden. And Portugal dos Pequenitos is also very important to us, because the Foundation is an IPSS [private institution of social solidarity] with social work and, in this social work, much of the revenue is generated by its cultural heritage", added the administrator.
Today, despite the security measures in the face of the pandemic of covid-19, which imposed the use of masks, although outdoors (and there were several children with them, although not mandatory for the little ones), the day in Portugal of the Little Ones was of play and affection, as the protagonist of a boy, accompanied by his mother, who, as soon as he entered, went running to hug a pair of clowns responsible for the animation.
André, seven years old and resident in Coimbra, returned today to Portugal of The Little Ones as soon as they finished classes at a distance: "He likes to come here, but there are still not many boys to play with. It's good, because then there's more space," said her mother, Alexandra, alluding to the days when the enclosure fills with children.
In the regional houses area, Constance, five years old, accompanied by her parents, walks happily around the grounds, feints a live broadcast of a television program and bouncefrom house to house.
The three arrived from Matosinhos, already knew the Portugal of the Little Ones, but Constance, then two years old, will not have present any memory of the space, says his father, Paulo.
"We visited at the time of our parents and grandparents and now that we have a daughter it makes perfect sense to return. Keeping it as it was built is funny, we never forget it," he added.
On the plans for the revitalization and expansion of Portugal of the Little Ones, the administrator of the Bissaya Barreto Foundation reveals that the institution is already "in a position" to proceed to the competitions, after a period in which the project was slow to advance in the municipality of Coimbra.
"Things are already outdated, sometimes they take longer than we would like. The pavilions of the entrance [of the former colonial countries] will have special contents and we will have others about Portugal and our culture", he said.
On the other hand, in the expansion zone, Ivo Pimentel, although without revealing great details, revealed that "two or three architectural works that reflect modern Portugal" will be installed.
"They will be works that from an architectural point of view are, in fact, emblematic. Then there will have to be a certain regional balance, we will not only have a certain region of the country", he stressed.
The current constructions "are untouchable" at the infrastructure level, said the fbb administrator.
"These regional houses, all of them, in the past, had content, had regional furniture, little", he recalled, recalling that this content, over the years, was degrading and spoiling and ended up removed.
"Abroad we will not touch. But from our point of view, it is possible to enrich the experience of those who visit us and explain why a particular house, a particular pavilion is here. A child of the generation of now will not understand why we have a pavilion of Macau or Angola, have to explain and contextualize, that's what we will do, maintain and add value", accentuated Ivo Pimentel.
JLS //SSS
Lusa/End