Balneários do Laranjal: história, sociabilidade e lazer na Costa Doce Pelotense (1970-2014)

Abstract

This research analyzes the different forms of sociability, leisure and appreciation of the public beach space, established throughout the history of the Santo Antônio, Valverde and Prazeres bathing stations, which, together, make up the Laranjal lagoon shore, located in the municipality of Pelotas /LOL. Methodologically, the work is based on the contributions of oral history to carry out and analyze the interviews carried out with residents and other individuals linked to the resorts in question. Furthermore, the research uses a qualitative perspective when focusing on photographic documents and journalistic periods from the municipality of Pelotas, seeking to highlight the different nuances of summer social coexistence in this coastal territory. The research focused on issues such as: (a) Sociability around social and recreational clubs, located in Laranjal resorts; (b) Sports leisure on the beach; (C) Bars and restaurants as spaces for sociability; (d) The practice of camping and leisure close to nature; (e) Bathing in the lagoon and recreational use of the sandy space at the edge of the beach. The time frame of this research falls within the so-called History of Present Time, this is because it has its starting point in the 1970s, a thriving moment in summer sociability in Laranjal, going until mid-2014, a period in which public authorities local, by court order, expropriated numerous commercial establishments that were illegally located on the beachfront. In addition to this event, the suspension of Praieiro camping and the closure of football activities at the Praia Sete event, are two other aspects that seem to have contributed to the collapse of sociability and leisure in the three bathing resorts under study. By examining all these aspects, we envision writing a story that values the beach culture of the city of Pelotas.