The year 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the arrival of democracy in Portugal, a process in which culture was fundamental through literature, cinema, theatre, the plastic arts and music. In Spain, the road to democracy began a few years later, influenced by the air of freedom coming from the neighbouring country.

That's why, at the Luso-Spanish Summit in Lanzarote in 2023, the governments of both countries agreed to develop an intercultural programme that would not only commemorate the anniversary, but also explore the role of the arts and culture as an instrument for promoting human rights and freedom.

This is how the initiative "Portugal - Spain. 50 years of culture and democracy‘ was born, based on existing joint cultural programmes, such as the ’Cross-border Cultural Programme‘, or the series of activities that each country holds in the neighbouring country, ’Cultura Portugal‘ and ’Mostra Espanha".

The programme presented is not just the result of collaboration between the two countries and their respective Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs. It involves many more players, from both public administration and civil society, reflecting the excellent relations between the two territories.

Through temporary exhibitions, concerts, theatre, film cycles and literary talks, "Portugal - Spain. 

 Through temporary exhibitions, concerts, theatre, film cycles and literary talks, "Portugal - Spain. 50 years of culture and democracy" aims to bring citizens closer to the relevance of the political, social and cultural processes that took place on the Iberian Peninsula during the 1970s and which led to the end of the dictatorial regimes that ruled both countries to make way for democracy.

The exhibition Ventos do Povo. Of Iberian Revolutions and Transitions (1974-1977), to which CD25A contributed photographic documents belonging to the Alexandre Alves Costa Archive Fund, presents seventy photographs documenting the years of democratic transition in Portugal and Spain, with images that, for the first time, dialogue on both sides of the border. Through five thematic sections - Hoje tudo começa, O povo na rua, Do centro para a periferia, Liberdade de expressão and A revolução dos corpos - the exhibition offers a visual look at social mobilisations, the recovery of public space and the transformation of political imaginaries.

Works by Alexandre Alves Costa, Alécio de Andrade, Guillermo Armengol, Manel Armengol, Pilar Aymerich, Carlos Bosch, Henri Bureau, Augusto Cabrita, Xosé Castro, Gustavo Catalán, Colita, Peter Collis, Nuno Félix da Costa, Demetrio E. Brisset, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira, Paco Elvira and Paco Elvira. Brisset, Paco Elvira, Pepe Encinas, Antonio Gabriel, Eduardo Gageiro, Carlos Gil, César Lucas, Inácio Ludgero, Rui Martins, Pablo L. Monasor, Andrés Palomino, Albano Pereira, José Carlos Pereira, José Carlos Pratas, Guy Le Querrec, Benito Román, Francesc Simó, Ernesto de Sousa, Anna Turbau and Luis Vasconcelos.