ABSTRACT
Today, Alentejo is appreciated for its aesthetic qualities as a tourist destination. The Alentejan monoculture landscapes are reminiscent of what Mitchell (2002) describes as a landscape of power, associated with the region’s desertification and the emigration of its inhabitants. Their aesthetic beauty makes tourists oblivious to the complex, thousand-year-old ancestral culture of montado, which is based on close ties between communities and their natural environment. Herdade do Freixo do Meio’s local agricultural development project exemplifies a potential political project for the region that could stabilise the population. Casa do Alentejo is the external showcase for the complex reality of Alentejo today. The region struggles to define an overall, long-term economic policy that could coordinate the various initiatives and enable the region to make the most of its resources.
