Helena and João Paulo are two elderly people who, after a normal life with family Christmas celebrations, Holiday Allowance and their own ambitions, now find themselves homeless. They sleep parked in an old cargo van at Parque do Escravote, in Eiras, an area that has become an improvised dormitory for homeless people in the city of Coimbra.
The article describes the celebration of a Medieval Fair in Eiras, an event that includes attractions such as churros, spit-roasted pigs and toy knights. The festivity contrasts with the reality of two human beings who, amid the fair's excitement, are forced to wash their clothes at the public fountain and take baths using a watering can.
The text, belonging to the column "The Figure of the Day," draws attention to the social exclusion situation of these elderly people, highlighting the institutional neglect and the lack of adequate housing responses for the aging population in extreme vulnerability situations.
