Emissores Associados de Lisboa (the studio on Avenida Elias Garcia)

On the night of 24 April 1974, one of the studios of the Emissores Associados de Lisboa was operating on the 7th floor of this building. It was the station chosen by the Armed Forces Movement to broadcast the signal that would mark the start of the military operation against the regime.¹

At 22:55, live on air, the announcer João Paulo Diniz said: “It is five minutes to eleven. With you, Paulo de Carvalho with Eurofestival 74, ‘E Depois do Adeus’, a song by José Niza.” (Faltam cinco minutos para as vinte e três horas. Convosco, Paulo de Carvalho com o Eurofestival 74, “E Depois do Adeus”, uma canção de José Niza.) It was the first signal for preparations to begin in the units committed to the Movement.² In the Lisbon Military Region and at the Practical Schools of Cavalry, in Santarém, and of Artillery, in Vendas Novas, the Movement’s soldiers now knew that they were to get ready to leave their barracks.³

The song, by José Niza, sung by Paulo de Carvalho, had won the Festival da Canção (Song Festival) on 7 March. The Movement chose it because it would not arouse suspicion: it was a romantic ballad, with no political content. At 00:20, the second signal — “Grândola, Vila Morena”, on Rádio Renascença — confirmed that the operation had begun.³

The building is one of the places marked by the “Lugares de Abril” (Places of April) project, run by Lisbon City Council and the 25 April Association.⁶⁷