On 25 April 1974, Portugal witnessed a revolution that would change its future forever. A 46-year-long, uninterrupted fascist dictatorship came to an end that day. Why is this considered the most important national holiday by many? And what’s with all the flowers? A long thread.

Before April 25, life under dictatorship looked like this: zero rights to vote. Absolute censorship, with the famous “blue pencil” scanning every book, song, news and articles for inconvenient opinions. Women needed their husband’s permits to travel abroad. My parents vividly...

remember being told by guards to disperse when they met with friends just for fun. Political imprisonment, persecution, illiteracy, poverty, exile and torture were routine. My grandpa was tortured for saying the wrong thing. April 25 changed it all: it started with the military.

The military planned a coup. The secret signal they agreed would start it all? A song on the radio. On April 24 at 22h55m, “E Depois do Adeus” by Paulo de Carvalho, a popular hit at the time, plays on the radio. The coup members take their positions.

The second signal: at 00:20, a different radio station plays a song that had been declared illegal and “communist” by the regime. It’s “Grândola, Vila Morena” by Zeca Afonso. Today, all of us know this song by heart. It is the hymn of our revolution.

After the second signal, the military takes action. By the morning of April 25, several streets and military quarters across Portugal had already been occupied. They demand freedom and it becomes clear the government is largely outnumbered by forces who oppose them. 6 hours...

...later, the regime surrenders. Thousands of Portuguese take to the streets in celebration. Since the Lisbon flower market was nearby the crowd, many took carnations and put them on soldiers’ gun barrels to symbolize their support and the beauty of a coup without violence.

Exactly one year later, after much instability, more coups and counter-coups and tension between political leanings, Portugal has its first free election. It has remained so to this day, 46 years later. My parents still clearly remember the revolution: my mom was 21 years old.

Every April 25, the Portuguese go outside, enjoy their freedom, display carnations everywhere, gather to celebrate, sing the songs the military used as secret signals for the coup, and children draw little carnations at school. It’s a huge thing in our culture!

Today, April 25, I spoke to mom for 59 minutes about everything we felt like talking about. More importantly, we did it freely. Then, I called dad. I asked what he’d do today. He said: “What I always do: an inner celebration, this time expanded.” Feliz 25 de Abril para todos.