Flooding in Lisbon, Portugal in 1967. A disaster with different readings

Abstract

On the nights of 25 and 26 November 1967, heavy rains swept over the area of Lisbon (Lisboa, Loures, Odivelas, Vila Franca de Xira and Alenquer), with flooding causing a high number of deaths, thousands of homeless and countless homes destroyed. Despite the impacts originated the episode remains poorly evoked. The theoretical and academic approaches to the subject have focused more on the weather phenomenon and the effects produced in the territory and less on the social consequences and the observation of the impacts of a political nature. Based on consultation and analysis of hundreds of documentary sources, we have tried to document some social and political events that marked the post-flood crisis in 1967 in the Lisbon region.