2nd International ICAH Symposium

50th Anniversary of the independence of Portuguese Africa (1976-2026)

The roughly one-thousand-year-old ties between Portugal and Great Britain have also left their mark on Gibraltar. Exactly 50 years ago (1976), the Portuguese colonies of Madeira and the Azores were declared autonomous regions of the Republic of Portugal. This marked the end of a political process that began in 1971 with the designation of Mozambique and Angola as autonomous states, but which led to a bloody war between the colonial power and its African colonies: Guinea-Bussau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Angola (and Cabinda). In mainland Portugal, this process culminated in the Carnation Revolution of 1974. While independence was finally achieved in 1975, long civil wars ensued. The 2nd International Symposium of the Centre for Atlantic History, Gibraltar (ICAH) will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2026, in the Conference Room of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, 122 Irish Town, Gibraltar. The opening speaker will be the Gibraltar historian Tito Benady, who himself spent five years interned in Madeira during the Second World War. The event will be held in a hybrid format.