A year ago, in March 2023, I published the first half of this experiment. I took pictures of political billboards in Lisbon, Portugal, and analyzed them. That first part, which you can read here, was about the billboards of all major (and some minor) Portuguese right-wing parties. Since then, I continued my strolls and even intensified my flâneur activities, taking pictures of left-wing parties’ political advertisements across the city. Like last year, most pictures are taken while I bike to my office, crossing some of the most traffic-intense avenues of Portugal’s capital.

The national elections are already here, and soon afterward it will be time for the elections of the European Parliament, with the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in between. The Portuguese Left is in the middle of an internal reconfiguration, with the incumbent Socialist Party affected by a huge corruption scandal that caused Prime Minister António Costa to resign. What will happen to the Portuguese Left? Is the last orthodox Communist party in Western Europe going to survive? Will the socialists be able to surprise their detractors, rising once again from their ashes?

To stay updated about the day-by-day semiotic analysis of political billboards, follow the Telegram channel of POP (here) and the BlueSky account (here).

Meanwhile, enjoy the read.

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