The villages of Cova and Gala belonged administratively to the parish of Lavos until 1985.
In 1974, the inhabitants of these villages submitted a petition to the Minister of Internal Administration requesting the creation of a new parish, thus echoing old aspirations that predated the 25th of April.
On July 11, 1985, in a plenary session, the Assembly of the Republic decreed the creation of the current parish of São Pedro.
It was 1973 when Manuel Pereira traveled to Lavos with his wife Luísa dos Santos and some family members to baptize his son Luís, who had been born four days earlier in Cova.
The fifteenth of that month promised to be hot, but the three-kilometer walk from Cova, first through the sand dunes and hills, then along the road that ran alongside the river to the Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Lavos, was a joyful and leisurely one. When the appointed time came, the parish priest, Tomás da Costa, solemnly baptized the newborn Luís, whose family was from Ílhavo.
This was the first baptism recorded in the parish register for a birth in Cova and, as such, recognition of the existence of the village.
Years earlier, probably between 1770 and 1780, a group of fishermen from Ílhavo built huts made of reeds under the shelter of the largest sandbank south of the mouth of the Mondego River.
In the distance, to the north, you could see the village of Buarcos and, closer and already beautiful, the newly born village of Figueira da Foz. It was a sure promise, with the Mondego River nearby and the lands of Lavos stretching southward, of good fishing.
How and why they settled there, in the hollow of a dune, it was soon nicknamed Cova (hollow).
The village of Gala, in turn, began to take shape when, several years after settling in Cova, some fishermen moved to Nascente and erected small riverside huts there to store their nets and fishing gear. Large wooden warehouses were also built on the riverbank to salt, preserve, and sell the sardines caught by the fishermen of Cova.
In his work, As Freguesias de S. Pedro, Lavos, S. Julião e Buarcos em artigos de Buscador (The Parishes of S. Pedro, Lavos, S. Julião, and Buarcos in articles by Buscador), the illustrious Galense, Captain João Pereira Mano, notes that Cova and Gala have been culturally and socially linked to the sea since their origins, and their people have always lived intensely the dramas and glories that the sea, in its immensity, provides. Examples of this are the assistance provided to Wellesley's troops landing at Cabedelo, which helped to put an end to the French Invasions, and the shipwrecks of bateiras on the river, trawlers during the sardine season, and even fishing boats and later trawlers in the distant cod fishery. Thus, the connection between the sea and the people who founded the village of Cova is lost in the mists of time.
Cova and Gala, in days gone by, developed a strong and persistent maritime culture which, despite the inexorable changes of time and people, can still be appreciated and observed in much of the male population of Cova-Gala. From the techniques used at sea in Cova D'Oiro, to those used on the river, cod fishing, Cabo Branco, the merchant navy, sardine fishing, trawling, and artisanal fishing, the men of Cova and Gala have engaged in all of these activities throughout their history. We should also consider the large number of people from Cova-Gala who, over time, have settled in the United States as immigrants, most of them connected to fishing.
The name Cova-Gala given to the population of these two places did not come about by chance. It is a long-standing custom of its inhabitants who, following the course of progress and its impact on the advancement of the two villages towards each other, have united what was once separated by a thin strip of sand, hills, and ditches.
The feuds between these two villages are now a thing of the past, with sayings such as the nostalgic “Mais vale a Cova que a Gala toda” (Cova is better than the whole of Gala), to which the reply was “I heard that Gala is a city in your mouth!”
It was unthinkable that, nowadays, only one settlement would be detected and identified, stretching from the river to the sea, in a cluster of houses and dwellings, and even the small differences in the intonation of speech, or in the peculiar and swaying gait of its people, are rarely glimpsed today.
Over the last few decades, the character of the village has undergone a change towards cosmopolitanism brought about by the social openness that progress has allowed, and it is no longer possible to characterize it as a typical fishing community with customs and traditions defined by the sea and fishing, as was the case until the mid-1970s.
There are several stories, some true, others embellished by legend, that tell of the heroic deeds of the men and women of this village who, struggling against the adversity and modesty that life at sea has always brought, helped to write a little of Portugal's history.
Its habitat has undergone profound changes due to the emergence of local and neighboring industries, which have led to the settlement of a large number of people, who have built their homes here. Side by side with the typical single-story houses belonging to fishermen, there are three- and four-story apartment buildings and modern houses and villas.
This urban area is markedly industrial and port-based, with shipyards, a fish market, a fishing port, and a number of industries in Morraceira and the Gala Industrial Zone. Tourism is also worth considering, given the excellent natural conditions of its coastline and river.
On the other hand, in 1916, Professor João Coelho collected the legend of the place name Cova from popular culture through an interview with some elderly people who lived here. According to them, "our ancestors, the fishermen, used to come and fish on this side to avoid quarrels with the fishermen from Buarcos, where they always found an abundance of fish that earned them good money.
Some fellow countrymen and the families of these daring fishermen asked them where they were getting so much money, to which they replied that they had discovered a gold mine.
Their success encouraged others who were no longer content with just coming to get the gold from the cave, that is to say, fish, but also founded a small colony that developed and... also exhausted the gold, leaving us with only the... CAVE.
It is well known that São Pedro has developed over the last few years and is now equipped with sewage and rainwater drainage systems and a modern wastewater treatment plant throughout its residential area.
There are several different services and commercial establishments in the parish that meet the needs of the resident population and those who, for professional reasons, have to travel here every day.
The Figueira da Foz District Hospital, the Fishing Port, and the Fish Market are located in this parish.
The shipbuilding and public works shipyards in Cabedelo and Morraceira, the fish farming units, and the Gala Industrial Zone in the south of the parish, which is undergoing progressive development, make São Pedro one of the most promising parishes in the municipality of Figueira da Foz.
In the fishing sector, the establishment of the Fishing Port and Fish Market in the parish has allowed the entire long-distance fishing fleet to have its headquarters in São Pedro, several processing, packaging, and freezing companies to set up here, and all fish sales to be made in the modern facilities of the Fish Market.
Artisanal fishing is an important family-based activity. Trawling and purse seine fishing, with the well-known trawlers, contribute to a good percentage of employment for fishermen in Cova-Gala.
The river contributes seasonally to the income of fishing families, who catch lamprey, shad, and elver using river fishing gear such as branqueiras, sávaras, and peneiro. The harvesting of bivalves such as clams, cockles, and mussels is another activity made possible by the river.
The almost artisanal art of salt extraction in Morraceira is also noteworthy, as is the development of aquaculture.
Source: spcovagala