Graffiti

There is a lot of graffiti in Portugal. Lisbon is on a lot of “best of” lists - best place to retire, best romantic city… it is also the best place to see buildings covered in street art and graffiti, often side-by-side with shining new construction.

Much of it is beautiful, though some of it is just visual pollution. Since Christmas, there has been a swastika - four of them actually - spray painted in the central town park here in Belas. Three are on the wall that faces a row of apartments, across a busy street. One is on the ground, in front of a park bench. They are poorly drawn, look hesitant even, as if the person drawing them wasn’t exactly sure of the design.

I was dismayed when I saw them. For the most part I enjoy the omnipresent street art and graffiti of my adopted country, even when it’s not particularly pretty. I always imagine a kid with a spraypaint can, for a moment wielding the same amount of power as the entire bureaucracy that created the building they are spraying on.

a cross now broken 
to match the mind that draws it
can still be transformed 

One wonders what the graffiti artist (though in this case I object to the word artist, and prefer a noun like graffitoro/a, or ‘fitifascist) could possibly be thinking. Not just one swastika - multiple, each larger than the last. This is intentional, but what is the real message - is it true hatred of Jewish people? Is it to arouse shock and dismay? I haven’t observed a lot of prejudice here - of course it exists, and I’m not saying I haven’t observed any, as I have - a white person calling an immigrant neighborhood dangerous because of the presence of darker skinned people is not unique to Portugal by any means, growing up in the US I heard the same often enough.

I expected the swastika graffiti to be cleaned away by now - the Sintra municipality is pretty good about cleaning up public garbage, which this is. If it’s still there by April 6th I will bring my black paint to the park and transform those swastikas into flowers, with the h walking Jake around as a distraction. I have pictures of the before, in case police drive by and see me.

I’m waiting til April 6th because my residency meeting has been rescheduled for April 5th, and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my NHR status. Maybe I’m being too much of a worry wart - defacement of public property doesn’t seem to be frowned on in general here - the graffiti is truly everywhere.