Portugal: Thousands attended the Communist Party's "Avante! Festival"

For another year, the annual festival of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), known as "Avante! Festival" (Festa do Avante) became an attraction for thousands of people who gathered at Quinta da Atalaia in Seixal in order to attend the numerous cultural and political events included in the program,

This year's festivities, which took place on 2,3 and 4 September, also included a symphonic concert dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of the great Portuguese writer José Saramago.

Remembering José Saramago: "We need to change the world"

Nine years have passed since the 18th June 2010, the day when José Saramago, one of the most gifted novelists of the 20th century, died. 

Saramago, was far more than just a novelist, a poet, a playwright and a journalist; he was a philosopher and he was a communist. 

Born on November 16th, 1922 at Azinhaga, a small village in Portugal. In 1924, the Saramago family moved to Lisbon where his father began his new job as a policeman. Just a few months after their settlement in the portuguese capital, Jose's older brother, Franscisco, died. Although Jose was a good pupil, his parents were unable to afford to keep him in grammar school, and instead moved him to a technical school at age 12.