Carregal do Sal () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Viseu District The Districts of Portugal, District of Viseu ( ) is located in the Central Inland of Portugal, the District Capital is the city of Viseu. Municipalities The district is composed by 24 municipalities: * Armamar Municipality, Armamar * Carregal d ...

in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 9,835, in an area of 116.89 km². The present mayor is Atílio dos Santos Nunes, elected by the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. The municipal holiday is the second Monday after the third Sunday of July.

Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 5 civil parishes ('' freguesias''): * Beijós * Cabanas de Viriato * Currelos, Papízios e Sobral * Oliveira do Conde * Parada

History

The municipality was created in 1836, by merging the now extinct Currelos and Oliveira do Conde municipalities. There was a place in Currelos called Carregal. Later it became known as “do Sal” ( English: ''of salt'') after the big salt evaporation ponds constructed there by order of Francisco Lucas de Melo Pais do Amaral (7 May 1752 – 6 April 1819), of Casa de Santar (Melo Pais do Amaral, and after Count of Santar). Taking advantage of the location by the road, by then the major land connection between Viseu and Coimbra districts, Francisco Lucas de Melo Pais do Amaral therefore ordered the building of huge salt evaporation ponds in some lands he had inherited, which could supply the entire region. This business was kept in the hands of its descendants (Soares de Albergaria Pais e Melo) over almost 200 years, and consisted of collecting the salt from

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), officially Figueira da Foz City (), often called simply Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

, transporting it by boat through Mondego and Dão rivers, up to Carregal, then laid in big warehouses, in the place named "Salinas" ( English: ''

salt evaporation ponds A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed throu ...

'') in the town border, where Francisco Lucas de Melo Pais do Amaral ordered, moreover, the build of the house named after it, today the Museu Municipal Manuel Soares de Albergaria.

Notable people

* Aristides de Sousa Mendes (1885 in Cabanas de Viriato – 1954), the Portuguese consul-general in Bordeaux, defied the orders of António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo regime by issuing thousands of visas to refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied France; although punished for his actions, he was posthumously redeemed and commemorated, and a museum in his honor was inaugurated on July 19th, 2024, in his hometown. * Ondina Maria Farias Veloso (1956–2019) a singer, known as Dina, sang in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992

References

External links

Town Hall official website

Photos from Carregal do Sal
Towns in Portugal Populated places in Viseu District Municipalities of Viseu District People from Carregal do Sal {{Viseu-geo-stub