With red carnations on their chests, in their hands, on their backpacks, or behind their ears, children and adults left Praça da República at around 3:30 pm, shouting "April 25th Forever, fascism never again".

Among the protesters, a red carnation 1.60 metres high stood out, which Carla Dionísio made with foam paper, with 50 petals, one for each of the 50 years that the revolution has marked.

"Democracy and freedom are the most important things we have. We cannot fall asleep in a democracy, especially when we have 50 fascists in our parliament," she said.

A 19-year-old student, who is studying Social Work, decided to tattoo the symbol of the April 1974 revolution on her forearm.

"I got this tattoo a year ago. April 25th is my favourite day of the year, the one that shows us how important our history is and that we must continue to fight for our democracy, which we cannot take for granted," said Fabiana Pereira.

The organising committee of the popular commemorations of the 50th anniversary of April 25th in Coimbra invited the entire city to participate in the popular demonstration, which headed to Pátio da Inquisição, "with more people than ever before".

"It is very important to celebrate this round date. But it is even more important to know that we must continue to fight for the values that have been conquered," said Fátima Rodrigues, with a red carnation in her hand.

The University of Coimbra joined the popular demonstration with about 500 students, carrying the Cabra, the tower of the University of Coimbra, on a float.

"The Cabra has a degraded image, reflecting the state of higher education. Below are the red carnations trying to repair the deficiencies of higher education," explained the president of the general board of the Coimbra Academic Association, Renato Daniel.

According to the coordinator of the Union of Trade Unions of Coimbra, Luísa Silva, about 140 organisations joined the popular commemorations, with more than a hundred participating in this afternoon's popular demonstration.

"To commemorate April, no entities are needed, just the union of the people, but we regret that the City Council did not join and had an autonomous agenda, in which we intend to participate later," she said.

Several demands were brought to the popular demonstration, from health to education, from culture to work, from international issues to democracy and freedom itself.

Mixed with the banners were peace flags, the national flag, and several cardboard posters held by a group of 21 people from Galicia.

"We decided to come on purpose to participate in the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of April 25th. We decided to come and say that fascism will not pass," said Maria Villaverde.

According to the PSP of Coimbra, about 8,500 people participated in today's popular demonstration. In 2023, there were about three thousand.

Read Also: Porto. Thousands join memories and appeals to carnations of the Liberty Parade (Portuguese version)