Propaganda, improvements and colonisation: The Estado Novo and the vernacular heritage

The programs promoting the Portuguese villages' revitalisation in the decades of 1990 and 2000 represented a unique opportunity to renew areas and rural centres, emphasizing the significance of the vernacular heritage regarding the touristic promotion of the territory. Far from being unprecedented, these actions are part of a historical context of rural development and promotion of the values of rural life, which emerges in with New State regime through the contest of the most Portuguese village of Portugal, and the policies for Rural Improvement/Rural Wellness and Internal Colonization. It is in the prospecting and defence of the urban landscape of the Algarve that the definition of a model is found. This research aims to establish and discuss the historical development of intervention initiatives in rural areas, the reasons that favoured them and their framework, in order to support the design of a model of rehabilitation practices in rural areas and demonstrate their applicability in a specific context.