Barrancos dialect

Barrancos dialect
Barrancos, on the border with Spain, is not far away from Moura and Serpa.

Integrated in a vast region once called "The Contention" (for centuries without limits or borders and thus simultaneously populated by both Portuguese and Spanish), its cultural habits were greatly influenced by the neighbouring country.

One of the most notorious signs of this influence is the existence of a dialect only mastered by the local inhabitants, which manage to express themselves using three languages in a single phrase: Portuguese, Castilian (Spanish) and a misture of the two - barranquenho ("barranquese")! An unique characteristic of Barrancos, this peculiar dialect also reflects the local popular wisdom, through its legends and expressions that remain unknown outside the zone.

If you happen to visit Barrancos during the popular festivities in Summer, you will see that the bull-running through the streets ends with the animal being killed in the Spanish fashion, despite the fact that Portugal doesn´t allow bulls to be killed at bullfights.