Public Security Police elite teams are guarding 1,000 women wearing over 100 million euros in gold at the Mordomia parade in Viana do Castelo on Wednesday.
The event is one of the main highlights of the annual Pilgrimage of Agony, a major cultural festival in northern Portugal that draws about half a million spectators every year.
Superintendent Telma Fernandes, head of operations for the Viana do Castelo district command of the Public Security Police, said officers are deployed across all nine days of the festival. She noted that security is especially focused on the day of the Mordomia parade because of the large display of gold throughout the city streets.
Fernandes added that the goal of the police operation is to ensure that both the parade participants and the spectators feel secure.
Security deployment and aerial surveillance
Security for the procession relies on specialized police units, including officers from the Special Police Unit and motorized immediate prevention and reaction teams brought in from Braga and Porto.
Police are also conducting aerial monitoring using drones that fly over the entire parade route. Fixed cameras placed at strategic locations across the city provide permanent surveillance.
The Public Security Police is Portugal's national civilian police force responsible for urban security. Viana do Castelo, the coastal capital of the Alto Minho region, hosts the festival every August in honor of Our Lady of Agony.
Parade participants and family gold
The parade features 1,000 women representing all districts of mainland Portugal. Almost 800 of the participants come from the municipality of Viana do Castelo, with every parish in the district represented. The minimum age to participate is 14, which is the age of the youngest stewardess in this year's march.
The women wear historic family jewelry passed down through generations, including filigree hearts, beads, rosaries, and gold chains. In addition to the gold, participants wear traditional folk costumes, many of which are valued at more than 1,100 to 1,200 euros.
Traditional Viana filigree gold and handmade costumes have centuries of cultural history in northern Portugal, where gold pieces were historically given to women as family heirlooms and bridal dowries.
Events for the Pilgrimage of Agony in Viana do Castelo will run through Sunday.
