Photography: Archive of ‘Zé Mosca’s’ family
In August, the Ericeira Civil Parish Council paid tribute to ‘Zé Mosca’, on Algodio beach, with the setup of an evocative panel.
We went to talk to descendants of the first concessionaire of the bathing area also known as Praia do Norte (North beach), leaving below a summary of the reactions and information collected from the daughter Dulce Gregório and grandchildren Olga Gaspar and Pedro Gaspar, who received this tribute with great satisfaction, pride and also surprise.
Born on January 14, 1928, José Félix da Silva Gregório was the owner and, later, concessionaire of the first beach bar in Algodio for 52 years, between 1944 (only 16 years old!) and 1996.
According to Dulce Gregório, in those times Praia do Algodio had a familiar atmosphere, with a magnificent view: lots of rocks, sand and many beach tents that were set up at night. His daughter Olga adds that “there was no road like there is today and there were rocks all the way to the cliffs. The first bar that my grandfather built was built on top of the two “pampas” (ed. – we chose to keep the original expression) and he built a wooden staircase for bathers to have access to the beach. Everyone knew each other, the bathers who came every year to the same canopy or tent would leave their belongings at the end of the day at the ‘Mosca’ bar and the next morning they would already have them in their tent or canopy. Lunches were served to those who ordered it the day before (for example, the ‘Mosca’ fish stew, which was made of gobies and crab), all caught on the same day or the day before on the same beach by himself.»
the connection to Algodio beach would last until his death
Also according to his granddaughter, «José Félix was a charismatic figure in town. He was a reserved and very simple person, from children and young people to the elderly, all of them liked “Zé Mosca”, who would not discriminate against anyone – he served seafood to ministers and people he didn’t know. For me (and all the other grandchildren) he was a “super grandfather”».
The connection of “Zé Mosca” to Algodio beach would last until his death, in 1996, at the age of 68. “My father defended that beach with great fervor”, says his daughter Dulce Gregório.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
