The Revolution of April 1974, also known as the Carnation Revolution, was much more than a political movement that overthrew the dictatorship and led to the establishment of a democratic regime. It was also a promise of hope for Portuguese society. And for some industries, such as footwear, it was even a new beginning.

In 1974, just over 600 companies in Portugal were responsible for 15 thousand jobs in the sector.

APICCAPS was founded shortly afterwards. In the first strategic plan, in 1978, Miguel Cadilhe and Manuel Baganha analysed the sector for the first time. "An inter-sectoral tangle which, in terms of inputs, allows an irregular supply in terms of quality, quantity and prices, and which, in terms of outputs, suffers from the irrationality of an atomised internal market; unhealthy competition due to the predominance of undersized production units, many of them pre-industrial; management lacking modern methods and techniques; poor organisation and, indeed, relatively low productivity”. And so began a path of strategic and structured thinking that has marked the history of the Portuguese footwear industry.

Five decades later, the Portuguese footwear industry comprises around 1,200 companies (an increase of 74% since the 25th of April) and employs 33,000 people (an increase of 116%).

Portugal exports 90% of its production, the equivalent of 74 million pairs (an increase of 1170% since the Carnation Revolution), worth 1900 million euros (an increase of 54,533%) and makes a positive contribution of 1300 million euros to the country’s balance of trade.

Moreover, Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe where footwear production has not declined. The latest data show that the industrial core of the cluster, consisting of footwear, footwear components and leather goods, represents 6% of employment in Portuguese manufacturing and 3.2% of its value added. The cluster is highly concentrated geographically and, in the north of the country, its contribution to manufacturing is 10.9% of employment and 7.1% of value added. These figures rise to 29.8% and 28.5% respectively in the Tâmega e Sousa intermunicipality, where a high percentage of the cluster’s companies are located. They also account for 2.6% of total national exports of goods.

The footwear sector has recently renewed its vision. For the next decade, it aims to "be the international benchmark for the footwear industry and strengthen Portuguese exports, by virtually combining successfully sophistication and creativity with productive efficiency, based on technological development and management of the international value chain, thus ensuring the future of a national productive sustainable and highly competitive basis”.

The new strategic plan for the footwear cluster 2023, which has been presented to the public, has defined four priorities (human and company skills; sustainable products and processes; flexibility and rapid response; active presence on the markets), 24 measures and 113 actions to reposition the sector on the international competitive stage. 600 million euros will be invested in this process, a sign of confidence in the future.