Two-wheel pilgrimage takes 110 vespistas to Alentejo

The tour will cover 20 of the 47 municipalities in the Alentejo region, passing through the districts of Portalegre, Évora and Beja, with the base installed in a hotel in Estremoz.

There will be 110 vespistas on the road, coming from Bragança to Faro, with the organization exceeding the initial idea of ​​80 registered. “We opened registrations on January 17th and 15 minutes later they were closed. For logistical reasons, we lost at least 140 people, particularly from Spain, France and Italy”, explains Vasco Alves, founder and executive director of VVF.

This tour was scheduled for July 2022, but the remnants of the Covid-19 pandemic led to its postponement. “The idea of ​​slowness is not for nothing. It has to do with the beauty of the flowery fields, the nesting birds, and only slowly can you enjoy all the beauty of the Alentejo”, maintained the leader.

The tour begins on this “Freedom Day”, with the gathering taking place next to the Municipal Council of Arronches and the first big moment takes place at 3 pm in Campo Maior, where the vespistas will remember the commander Manuel Rui Nabeiro, depositing a crown of 50 pink roses, to honor “the Man, the Businessman, the Fighter and a pure Socialist”, explained the tour organizer.

Discovering the richness of its monuments, its gastronomy and its culture, with Cante Alentejano marking each lunch and dinner, are experiences that the tour wants to leave behind. “After the Volta ao Alentejo, mainland Portugal is marked by vespistas. We have already been to Madeira, where we return next October and in 2025, it will be the Azores, with a visit to São Miguel, to complete the map of all Portuguese regions”, concluded Vasco Alves.

Vespa was created 80 years ago, after World War II. Piaggio made planes, wagons and ships and, when the factories were destroyed by the Allies, the way to lift Italy was through those mopeds. Vasco Alves, also known as the “Mayan Bee”, has a curious definition: “the Vespa is the Ferrari of two wheels”.

Created in 2008, Vespa Vintage de Felgueiras was the first club to hold moped rallies and tours, and for 2026, the biggest challenge in its history is scheduled. For 15 days, two dozen VVF members will travel Route 66, the famous highway that crosses the United States of America and which, over 4 thousand kilometers, connects Chicago to Santa Monica.