Anyone crossing the D. Luís Bridge towards Porto will notice an esplanade decked out in colourful festive lights, as if São João lasts all year round. It's the headquarters of Guindalense Futebol Clube, a sports and recreational association from Sé that maintains a neighbourhood spirit. Inside, the walls are painted green, the club's colour, and the two display cases full of cups and trophies, among other memorabilia, confirm that this is a club with a history. Guindalense was "a very strong club in the area", says its manager, Rui Barros. Athletics, fishing, 11-a-side football, indoor football, chess, draughts and mini basketball. Guindalense has enjoyed many sports activities, but "they were lost over time due to lack of conditions and lack of support". The club ended up abandoning its sporting activities, but resumed them two years ago with a seven-a-side football team, with 16 players, playing in the Portuguese Minifootball Association championships, and also wants to have a futsal team and an eleven-a-side football team again, "with the old guard". "Now there's a light at the end of the tunnel for us to renew sport at the club," he says hopefully.

Rui discovered Guindalense when he was 16 "because of the St John's raids". Over the course of 30 years, he's been a member, vice-president, secretary, president of the assembly, and only the treasurer. For the last 12 years, he has been chairman of the board of this club, which was "officially" founded in 1976, the year it moved to number 43 of Escadas dos Guindais, until then the headquarters of the "Rosas da Sé" folklore group. However, he guarantees that the club already existed and that its members used to meet at tables in cafés in Ribeira (and there are trophies from football tournaments dating back to 1971).

The association's "main source of income" is its bar and terrace, which overlooks the River Douro and impresses with its panoramic view. Guindalense has been able to capitalise on this asset. "As the club has slowed down in terms of sport, it couldn't stand still. I don't want it to be a club that raises glasses and lives only on memories," he says. "To get Guindalense moving", the board decided to invest in cultural and recreational activities and "it worked". That's why there are so many parties on the calendar. In addition to the club's anniversary party in March, "which lasts the whole month" and this year included Marante "in a sunset style", they host the closing party of the International Festival of Theatre of Iberian Expression (FITEI), which will take place on 25 May. May is also the month in which the Serenata ao Douro (Serenade to the Douro) takes place, a tunas festival that is now in its 26th edition and was first organised by students from the Modern University of Porto (now Lusófona), which neighbours the club.

“São João brings us to our wits' end”

"We also have megalomanous projects: it's São João, which brings us to our wits' end!" he laughs. "We can't say no to São João! Last year we had Mr Pedro Mafama and it was a blast. The Guindalense festival has grown so much, so much, so much! It's the only festival that has live music until 7am," he says, without hiding his vanity. "All the shows are free; people can come and socialise, we don't charge anyone any money. Where do we get the money to pay the artists? The pub!"

The club currently has 260 members ("around 180 have their membership fees up to date"), but there are requirements. "We could have 20,000 members, but to be a member of Guindalense you don't just fill in a form on the internet and that's it." You can only join by invitation. "A member has to get to know the new member. The person has to 'get inside', they have to get into the spirit of Guindalense, and not just come here for the price of coffee or beer," he declares peremptorily.

Where foreigners are welcome

Today, Guindalense is sought after not only by locals, but above all by foreigners. "We've started to be invaded, in quotes, by foreigners. And I say inverted commas because they're very well received," he emphasises. "A few weeks ago, I got upset with a Portuguese client. We have things very well organised; so that people don't cross paths, they enter from one side and leave from another. We've kept this system since Covid. We had one person who came in and saw a queue and asked if he had to go to 'the foreigners' queue'. We all have the same value! And Guindalense has done nothing more or less than accompany the evolution of the city, and these people also bring us money," he argues. "I don't want to be subsidy-dependent; organisations should think of new ways of working without being subsidy-dependent. Guindalense has the chance to have the space it has, with the views it has, and I haven't received a subsidy in years. We're a club with completely organised accounts," he says.

If the view over the Douro can cosy up your mind, Guindalense offers a range of snacks to cosy up your stomach. The speciality is the "cachorrinho" (small, grilled hotdog), which has a story behind it: "We have to give credit to those who make it, and it was Cervejaria Gazela, next to the São João Theatre, who started making this little hotdog. But one day we thought we'd have a delicacy here that the members might like and we went there to eat with 'curious eyes', to eat to see what was inside, and there was a lot of research that wasn't quite Sherlock Holmes, but it was close." And he assures us: "We're not competing with anyone. A lot of people love our dog because it's not too tough. The steak is also very good, and our fries are 6 millimetres thin. I sell a lot of fries! Pure class."