The museum hosts a temporary exhibition dedicated to the “Assault on the Santa Maria”.
One of the most recent museums in Madeira is open to the public in the town of Câmara de Lobos. In an area totaling at 2 thousand square metres, the Madeira Press Museum reenacts the history of press in Madeira through the use of equipment and newspapers of different eras.
Some of the oldest Portuguese press titles were published in Madeira. From the nineteenth century onwards, several newspapers appeared on the regional scene reporting the various political tendencies and moments in History.
The museum operates in conjunction with the National Press Museum which oversees the temporary exhibitions held locally.
The current exhibition approaches one of the most noteworthy struggles against the Portuguese dictatorship which overshadowed the country between 1926 and 1974. It portrays the “Assault on the Santa Maria” through the eyes of the media.
The exhibition gathers hundreds of national and international press articles. This odyssey can be followed through the media coverage of Life, Time or Paris Match which portrayed thoughts of the general public worldwide and the unfolding of events during a two week period. The case made many headlines until the ship was handed over on February 3rd 1961 in the north of Brazil.
The exhibition also includes televised footage dating back to the period, including the arrival of the ship in Lisbon following the surrender of the insurgents.
The luxurious Santa Maria, which docked several times in Funchal, was carrying approximately one thousand passengers after leaving Caracas in Venezuela when it was hijacked by 25 rebels under the command of Henrique Galvão in the early hours of January 22nd 1961. This dissident of the former Portuguese dictatorship, was exiled in Venezuela. The assault on the liner was a way of raising the awareness of the international public to the issues of the dictatorship in Portugal.
The diversion of the Santa Maria is considered one of the harshest attacks against the Portuguese dictatorship, due to the impact on the public opinion worldwide. This episode of the contemporary history of Portugal, which claimed global coverage, mobilized resources like never before, such as the use of parachutes by Paris Match journalists, internationalizing the struggle of the opponents of Salazar’s regime.
This exhibition marks the 40th anniversary of the end of the dictatorship in Portugal, celebrated on the 25th of April 1974.
