Even “el caganer”, a typical figure in the nativity scenes from the areas of Catalonia and Valência in Spain , put in an appearance at the time they were creating the giant Vila Real de Santo António nativity scene. There are 10 or 12, Augusto Rosa confided but he added that they didn’t know where to put them.

Augusto Rosa, António Bartolomeu and Teresa Marques created the structure that will remain on show until 6th January 2010 at the Centro Cultural António Aleixo, but it is Teresa who creates the stories that are “told” in the nativity scene, inspired by her memories from childhood.

An organic vegetable plot is one of the novelties in this year’s scene; Teresa told the Algarve Observer that these days people were talking so much about organic produce and in those days no pesticides were used, so she thought it fitted well there.

The market is another highlight of the scene as what can be seen is the variety of produce that the ‘clients’ can find there. Teresa said that there was a little of everything, fruit, the chicken woman, the egg woman, the basket maker, fish, charcoal, pottery, taverns, ham and sausages; she added jokingly that in those days you could sell such things but now you can’t because of the ASAE!

With great tenderness in her voice, Teresa describes each of the areas on display. Ranging from the playground to the bread maker kneading the dough and the woman feeding the hens, no detail has been forgotten.

All the houses have indoor lighting, there are a number of moving figures and many of the characters have been personalised through the skill and imagination of Teresa Marques.

The range of new features this year includes a woman bathing a child, a blacksmith, the shearing of sheep, a banquet of snails and a knife-sharpener, which both moves and reproduces the sounds of the craft.

When she was given the challenge of creating the nativity scene, Teresa confesses that she felt the “weight of responsibility” and said she spent many nights without sleeping, but the enthusiasm with which she talks about the project shows that she has no regrets.

She explains that everything has a history and if people didn’t like what they were doing, they would just put the figures in anywhere.

She said that she got to the point of having all the figures there, close to 4,000, and she didn’t know where to begin. She said it was a bit confusing but gradually she got things organised.

They are just figures of people, but they appear to be alive. She said that she placed these figures in the scene as if they were living, in her imagination there are real people there.

One interesting aspect mentioned by Teresa Marques is the fact that many visitors who come looking for the figure of the baby Jesus leave without having found it.

The three enthusiasts, all members of staff of the Vila Real de Santo António council, took a month to construct the nativity scene, which included a visit to the local forest to collect moss and other materials needed for the project.

António Bartolomeu explained jokingly that Teresa Marques gathered the moss and they had to carry it! Then they had to clean all the materials and shift 15 tons of sand by wheelbarrow inside the Cultural Centre.

The end result opens to the public today with new lighting representing a starry sky.

The nativity scene in numbers

The Vila Real de Santo António nativity scene is 140m2 in area (20m2 more than last year), contains 15 tonnes of sand (four tonnes more than last year), 400 kilos of cork (280 kilos more than in 2008/2009), 1,500 kilos of stone dust and some 3,500 figures.

On display at the Centro Cultural António Aleixo, the giant nativity scene can be visited every day until 6th January 2010 between 10.00 and 19.00. Admission is free.

Have a look at a video of a guided tour of the scene and we challenge you to go and find the figures/situations that are mentioned.

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