Kabu Verdi, hora di bai

At the Museo Nacional de Antropología we are repeating the voyage of Magellan and Elcano during the V Centenary of the first round the world voyage (2019 - 2022), stopping to find out about the current situation of some of the territories through which the expedition passed.

On this occasion, we give voice to the Cape Verdean communities that, almost 500 years later, were the protagonists of one of the first recent migratory experiences to our country, in the coal mines of the Leonese mountains.

The Cape Verde Islands were discovered in 1460 as part of Portugal's crown expansion. Independent since 5 July 1975, Cape Verde plays a key role in African relations as well as in other political contexts.

Cape Verdean emigration to Bierzo and Laciana, in the province of León, took place between 1975 and 1985. At that time, El Bierzo and Laciana experienced a period of economic growth, associated with coal mining.

Coal mining generates a social ecosystem that depends exclusively on the mine. But the hard and risky work in the pits also creates very close bonds of solidarity between those who go down into the pits every day.

Feelings associated with emigration are deeply rooted in Cape Verdean culture. Sodade, "nostalgia", refers to the one who has to leave home. Morna is Cape Verde's most international style of music.

Mining activity has generated deep networks of solidarity among its workers regardless of their origin. The Mining Culture Foundation has created the "Mining Memory Award". In its first edition (2021), it has been awarded to the Cape Verdean community.

The Museo de la Siderurgia y la Minería de Castilla y León, in Sabero (León) initiated a project to recover the recent history of mining in the province of León. Of course, Cape Verdean miners played a leading role in this initiative. 

The models of adaptation developed in El Bierzo and Laciana by the Cape Verdean communities have been exemplary. Associationism has made it possible to maintain the community identity, and the first Cape Verdean teams later gave way to mixed teams.

The cessation of mining activity means the loss of jobs. Some pre-retired miners - including Cape Verdeans - choose Torrevieja (Alicante) as their place of retirement. Its climate, on the Mediterranean coast, favours the treatment of mine-related illnesses.

The end of mining in León from 1990 onwards was a major crisis. On 18 March 2018, the Diario de León published an article about the "caboberciana" youth. During the interview, they stated: "We are from Bembibre, we love it and we would like to stay here".

The serie Démosle la vuelta al mundo d is made up of the following exhibitions:

1. Rio somos nós!
2. Estrecho de Magallanes: la frontera del agua
3. ¡Plástico a la vista!
4. BIBA CHAMORU. Cultura e identidad en las islas marianas
5. Pilipinas Ngayon