COVER N.17 - Portugal

Postmark: Montalegre - 21JUN2021
Posted on the  4th june; received on the 23rd June.
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Here's one I sent to none other than myself, twice, with the help of the CTT shop at Montalegre.

Bit of a story first: I've never been to Montalegre. I did have a general idea where to look to find it on the map, since I knew the region to be part of the only natural park in Portugal to have the status of National Park - the National Park of Peneda - Gerês , up North in the Trás-os Montes Region, bordering Spain. In fact the National Park has its contra part and continuity across the border in Galicia, the Natural Park of the Low Limia.

Montalegre, along with Boticas, are the two municipalities that pertain to the Terras do Barroso (the lands of the Barrroso), a region that recently (2018) was designated by the FAO as a World Agricultural Heritage site. Much of this recognition rests on the good, time honed practices of sustainable and communitarian land use that are a feature of the region, which is also famous for the bovine breed that carries its name, the Barrosã cow, hard to be mistaken with any other due to the large lira shaped horns that are its distinctive signature.

CTT, the Portuguese Post, included in its plan for 2021 an emission commemorating the above mentioned designation of the Terras do Barroso as the only Portuguese World Agricultural Heritage Site. 

A Couple of weeks later it also issued a special commemorative postmark on the same subject, that would be used on the correspondence circulated through the CTT shop of Montalegre.

Knowing this I sent Montalegre's CTT shop a self addressed envelope with the lowest tariff stamp of the Terras do Barroso emission on it, (0,68€) asking their cooperation to circulate the letter with the special commemorative postmark. It so happened that the envelope was effectively circulated back to me, but with the first day of issue postmark of the "terras do barroso" emitssion and not with the special commemorative postmark. So I took on the opportunity to send the envelope back to the CTT shop at Montalegre, this time with the second stamp of the set (0,70), asking again to have it stamped with the commemorative postmark.

Yesterday Mr. Postman dropped the well travelled cover on my mailbox and this is why it shows 3 different postmarks on stamps from the same emission - First day of issue; Commemorative postmark and regular Montalegre CTT station postmark.

Nice one, isn’t it?

The 86 cents stamp,  on its left tier,  shows a “look me in the eyes”  portrait of a fine Barrosã cow, highlighting its amazing horns, followed by a black and white reproduction of an old photo showing a lady shepherd, wearing a traditional woollen cape,  with her flock of sheep, in the middle section, and another photo with Barrosã cows, this time illustrating their role as draft animals.

The 70 cents stamp is dedicated to cereal farming, showing on the left what is called an “Espigueiro”, a stone or wood construction that is used to store grain above ground, thus protecting it from pests. The centre section is again occupied by an old b&w photo showing farmers either working the cereal  at some stage of the cereal processing routine or hay gathering, (I’m sorry, but I’m a city kid,  I really can’t tell 😉…). Finally on the right section we have a lady transporting a basket on her head which I would presume to be full of bread, fresh from the communitarian oven.

The commemorative postmark on the 0,68€ stamp shows two bulls of the Barrosã breed engaged in a “Chega” (best I can translate is something like “coming closer”). This is something very typical of the region of Trás-os-Montes, it even has a regional champioship, and it consists of putting two bulls in confrontation to see which one is stronger. The bulls engage by the horns usually and the weaker one, at some point yields and goes away. I’ve never seen it in the flesh (only on TV in documentaries and such) but I don’t think the bulls get harmed in any way.