ABSTRACT
This chapter points to decisive moments of conflict and rupture that formed images of the retornados, but which also contributed to a narrative of suffering inflicted on the returnees by unjust treatment. It offers an interpretation of how Portugal’s mainstream press tackled the issue of the retornados, and contributed to propagating images of this large group amongst the wider public in the metropole. Between 1975 and 1977, the living conditions of retornados in Portugal remained in many respects difficult, with challenges aggravated by a combination of social demands formulated by the returned settlers and political struggles in revolutionary and post-revolutionary Portugal. It would be simple for historians to just buy into the success story of ‘retornado integration’.
