CASA ALVES

Casa Alves was a grocery store situated in Lisbon's Alfama district. It involuntarily had to close its doors in 2016.

Opened in 1955, Jose Louis Alves took over the store from his father and made it the heart of the neighbourhood. People came not only to shop, but to chat, deposit keys, stamp envelopes in the little back room, share a glass of wine, or two, over joyful as much as sad events.

As Lisbon's oldest streets and houses are being sold and refurbished one after the next, Casa Alves owner Jose and his assistant, the long-served Jose Maria, know that their days are numbered. Ignoring their imminent shutdown, they raise their glasses one last time and meet an uncertain future with humour and friendship.