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It is hard to believe that it is possible to find people in Portugal living in favela type conditions more akin to Brazil than to western Europe, but that is exactly what many Cape Verdean families are doing in the district of Prior Velho in the city of Loures.

In the 1970s Quinta da Serra, which sits in between the northern highway and the modern buildings of upper Prior Velho, was once part of a farm but is is now home to some 200 shack-dwelling families all of whom are on the list to be relocated to better conditions.

Amongst the shacks lies the Socio-Cultural Association centre where local children can get help with their homework and parents can use the child care facilities.

The size of the district has diminished in recent years. In certain areas where once stood a shack, is now just mud caused by the running open sewers. However, in other parts the shacks have been replaced by gardens where all sorts of vegetation is grown.

The scheme to rehouse the residents of Quinta da Serra is known as the Special Relocation Programme, with an aim to move the families into better homes with more amenities. But despite the dismal conditions of the Quinta, there is still some reluctance to move with some saying they would rather go back to Cape Verde and other countries of origin, than to move. This is understandable as generations of families have grown up in the area for decades and friendships have been forged. This could all be lost if the families were to be dispersed.

As one elderly resident told Portugal's Lusa, '“If I can stay here in Prior Velho, I’ll sign on, but if they want me to leave, only if I can go to Cape Verde. I’m old, and my fun is this small garden. I know everyone here, the man from the butchery, from the grocery store. If I leave, where am I going to go? Who am I going to talk to?”

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