May in the Algarve brings traditions tucked into village streets and small discoveries waiting just around the bend.
The Maios of the Algarve
As May arrives, villages and towns across the Algarve transform overnight. Along roadsides, outside cafés, beside roundabouts, and perched in doorways appear life-sized figures made from straw, cloth, and imagination. These are the Maios (or Maias), an old Algarve tradition welcoming spring and marking the changing season.
Traditionally, the dolls are assembled from straw or rags, dressed in donated clothing, and posed in scenes that range from playful to deeply local. Some sit at dinner tables. Others fish, gossip, drink coffee, or reenact moments of village life. Increasingly, they also carry humor and commentary — little observations about daily life tucked into handmade displays.
Os Maios de Tavira
In Tavira, the Maios turn the town into a kind of treasure hunt — one where much of the community participates in telling a collective story of spring, humor, and local pride. Organized through the Concurso Maio Solidário 2026 by Associação em Contato Tavira, part of the goal of the Lado a Lado social project is to reduce social isolation, with many of the maios created by elderly members of the community.
You wander from street to street discovering them outside shops, restaurants, cafés, and businesses, each display reflecting a little personality of the people behind it. Every maio has a story and comes with its own poem, adding another layer of creativity and humor to the displays.
The selection shown here includes the scouts, the ferry, Vetgilão, Tavira Verde, the theater, a restaurant, a realtor, a pharmacy, a hairdresser, and the parish hall.
To see more watch this 💎highlight video.
Os Maios de Santa Rita
Santa Rita is my favorite village. It is a short drive east of Tavira, tucked between the countryside and the coast. A little village with a big expression, welcoming visitors and showing us life in playful ways — a person who enjoyed a little too much medronho, a mystical figure, a mail carrier, a bread maker, and even a bride.
Maios de Manta Rota
Manta Rota is further east along the Algarve coast, where the countryside gives way to the sea. The Maios in the area we explored were a little way from the ocean and felt more rustic, with handmade scenes and figures deeply connected to rural life and tradition.
Here is a 💎 highlight video of Santa Rita and Manta Rota.
Wild Things
One of our absolute favorite things to do is take a little drive, often veering off onto country roads just to see what we might find. This time we were delighted by geese walking in a perfect single-file line, flamingos standing in the salt pans, and goats gathered in a field along a well-traveled road.
In Bloom
A bougainvillea posing perfectly for a picture, a floral arrangement at home, and a restaurant bursting with color — this month became a quiet pursuit of flowers in all their forms.
A(nother) Mother’s Day Away
On Mother’s day, I took a bike ride and this poem was born.
A(nother) Mother’s Day Away
I don’t need a moment in May,
(I’m a mom every day).
Just point me toward a path
where I’ll find bouquets of wildflowers,
and I’ll be more than okay.
Because what waits around the bend
will keep me going.
And someday (I’m knowing),
we will ride together again.
But for now,
the flowers keep growing.
Recently Captured
Cruz Vermelha
Here is the Cruz Vermelha building in Tavira, a familiar face to me and a place where I have volunteered many hours of my time. Located in the Ex-Convento do Carmo in the Largo do Carmo, the former convent was extensively rehabilitated in the early 2000s and today houses both the Red Cross Humanitarian Centre, established here in 1981, and the neighboring Centro Ciência Viva de Tavira.
Tourist in Tavira
When tourists have wonder in their eyes, it makes me happy.
May Showers
A moody sky, always catches my eye.
Pig on a Spit
And then there was a random pig on a spit — something I stumbled across while walking through town. Slightly shocking, impossible to ignore, and one of those very real moments of local life.
More Portugal
Read more about daily life, the embarrassing moments, and the process for having a long stay in Portugal. If you are more of a picture person, follow me on Instagram.
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