Cape Verdean musician Francisco Fortes, 56, plays guitar inside Coqueiro, one of the dozens of restaurants in the Cova da Moura neighbourhood, serving traditional Cape Verdean food, in Lisbon, Portugal, December 16, 2018. "Living in Cova da Moura is just like living in Cape Verde," Fortes said. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A cat stands next to a graffiti wall in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, December 1, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Cape Verdean cook Benvinda Mendes, 73, locally known as Totta, takes a break as costumers eat at her restaurant in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, December 13, 2018. Mendes was born in the Cape Verdean island of Santa Catarina. There she was a construction worker, building roads and other infrastructures. In the 1980s she moved to Portugal seeking a better life Ð for her and her family - but when she got to Cova da Moura there was no running water or other basic services. Now, she runs a family restaurant in the neighbourhood and dances the traditional 'batuque', a music genre and dance style from Cape Verde that she learned with her late mother. 'Batuque' is set to feature in Madonna's upcoming new record. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Idrissa Mane, 44, works at his sewing workshop in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 23, 2018. Colourful patterns of African clothes can be spotted from outside Mane's store. "All materials come from Africa," he said. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Lisbon is seen from Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Residents attend a procession during the celebration of Santa Catarina in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 25, 2018. Santa Catarina is one of the most important religious celebrations in Cape Verde and in Cova da Moura too. Every year locals attend a church service and take over the streets to celebrate the saint. Community parties are held afterwards. During the church service a choir sings religious songs in Cape Verdean Creole, a Portuguese-based Creole language widely spoken in the neighbourhood. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Women make balls with corn flour during the celebration of Santa Catarina in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 25, 2018. Santa Catarina is one of the most important religious celebrations in Cape Verde and in Cova da Moura too. Every year locals attend a church service and take over the streets to celebrate the saint. Community parties are held afterwards. During the church service a choir sings religious songs in Cape Verdean Creole, a Portuguese-based Creole language widely spoken in the neighbourhood. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

People dance inside Coqueiro, one of the dozens of restaurants in the Cova da Moura neighbourhood, in Lisbon, Portugal, December 1, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A postbox hangs on a street in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, December 1, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Laundry hangs outside a house in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 23, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A dog stands in a window of a house in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

A boy rides a bicycle on a street in Cova da Moura neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal, January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Now retired Evaristo Marques, 75, prepares at his house to celebrate the day of Santa Catarina in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 25, 2018. Marques, who was born in Cape Verde's capital Praia, doesn't see himself living anywhere else in Lisbon. "People can say whatever they want about Cova da Moura but I will only leave this place when I'm dead," he said. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

A man checks his phone on a street in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Women make balls with corn flour during the celebration of Santa Catarina at Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 25, 2018. Santa Catarina is one of the most important religious celebrations in Cape Verde and in Cova da Moura too. Every year locals attend a church service and take over the streets to celebrate the saint. Community parties are held afterwards. During the church service a choir sings religious songs in Cape Verdean Creole, a Portuguese-based Creole language widely spoken in the neighbourhood. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Paulo Cabral, 36, born in Cova da Moura neighbourhood to Cape Verdean parents, sits on a sofa at his father's house in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 23, 2018. "Sometimes the only thing people know about Cova da Moura is the negative side," said Cabral "But that isn't the whole truth." Cabral organises tours of Cova da Moura. "When you visit once you keep on coming back," he said. "People may be poor here but they have big hearts and preserving culture is part of who we are." REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Rapper Timor Young Smoke, 27, poses for a portrait as he has a drink with his friends in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, December 1, 2018. Timor has a successful career as a rapper and, among other things, uses his music to highlight social issues, including police violence. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Dulce Fernandes poses with her Catholic figures for a portrait in her room in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, December 13, 2018. "I always have a smile on my face even though I'm sick," Dulce said. She has problems in her knees, which makes it hard for her to walk. Dulce came to Portugal in 2000. "I moved to Portugal to seek a better life, there were no jobs in Cape Verde. I have four children, without a father. I'm a strong woman," she said. Like many other residents in Cova da Moura, Dulce collects Catholic saints. Cape Verde is a predominantly Catholic country. In her tiny house she also has plants she uses for medical purposes, something prevalent in the neighbourhood, just like in Cape Verde. Dulce said she was evicted from her previous home in another similar neighbourhood in Lisbon, which is being destroyed to make space for a new urban development. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Just a 20-minute drive from downtown Lisbon lies Cova da Moura, one of Portugal's poorest and most neglected neighbourhoods, but whose immigrants from Cape Verde are transforming the area's image. Long considered a no-go area by Lisbon residents, Cova Da Moura is a warren of small streets where Cape Verdeans make up two-thirds of the 6,000 residents. They celebrate their home, a tiny archipelago off Africa's west coast, with music, food and street art - which tourists increasingly want to experience. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY. Matching text: PORTUGAL-CAPEVERDE/LISBON 

A photograph of Cape Verde's singing legend Cesaria Evora sits inside a restaurant in Cova da Moura neighbourhood in Lisbon, Portugal, November 23, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante SEARCH "MOURA LISBON" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Lava explodes from a volcano next to the village of Portela on Fogo Island November 28, 2014. Molten lava from a volcano in the Cape Verde archipelago slid towards the town of Cha das Caldeiras on Thursday, threatening to destroy it and a nearby village four days after an initial eruption. Picture taken November 28. REUTERS/Saulo Montrond (CAPE VERDE - Tags: ENVIRONMENT DISASTER) 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry kicks a soccer ball around during an airplane refuelling stop at Sal Island, Cape Verde, enroute to Washington, DC, May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Saul Loeb/Pool (CAPE VERDE - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

A woman carries containers of water into her home in the town of Ponta do Sol on the island of Santo Antao in Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa, May 15, 2012. Picture taken May 15, 2012. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (CAPE VERDE - Tags: TRAVEL SOCIETY) 

Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho speaks to a journalist during a news conference with his Cape Verdean counterpart Jose Maria Pereira Neves (not pictured) at Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon September 26, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante (PORTUGAL - Tags: POLITICS) 

Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho speaks to a journalist during a news conference with his Cape Verdean counterpart Jose Maria Pereira Neves (not pictured) at Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon September 26, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante (PORTUGAL - Tags: POLITICS) 

Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho (R) listens as his Cape Verdean counterpart Jose Maria Pereira Neves speaks during a news conference at Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon September 26, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante (PORTUGAL - Tags: POLITICS) 

Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho listens as his Cape Verdean counterpart Jose Maria Pereira Neves (not pictured) speaks during a news conference at Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon September 26, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante (PORTUGAL - Tags: POLITICS) 

Portuguese Prime Minister Passos Coelho arrives to speak to journalists after a meeting with his Cape Verdean counterpart Jose Maria Pereira Neves (not pictured) at Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon September 26, 2011. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante (PORTUGAL - Tags: POLITICS) 

The village of Fontainhas sits perched amid terraced farmland on Cape Verde's Sao Antao island July 12, 2010. Unscathed by conflict or political instability, Cape Verde has quietly become a middle-income nation and looks set to be one of few in Africa to meet any of the Millennium Development Goals set for measuring progress in improving livelihoods. Yet it has even loftier ambitions. Picture taken July 12, 2010. REUTERS/David Lewis (CAPE VERDE - Tags: SOCIETY TRAVEL BUSINESS IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora performs during her concert in Tel Aviv November 19, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL ENTERTAINMENT) 

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora is seen on stage during her concert in Tel Aviv November 19, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL ENTERTAINMENT) 

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora is seen on stage during her concert in Tel Aviv November 19, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL ENTERTAINMENT) 

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora performs during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Pan African Cultural Festival (Panaf) of Algiers at the Mohamed-Boudiaf Olympic Complex July 5, 2009. Algeria first hosted the first edition of the Panaf in 1969, and plans to revive its artistic influence over Africa with its second edition. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi (ALGERIA ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY) 

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora performs during the opening ceremony of the 2nd Pan African Cultural Festival (Panaf) of Algiers at the Mohamed-Boudiaf Olympic Complex July 5, 2009. Algeria first hosted the first edition of the Panaf in 1969, and plans to revive its artistic influence over Africa with its second edition. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi (ALGERIA SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT) 

Cape Verdean musician Tito Paris performs during a concert at the America's Cup Port in Valencia June 16, 2007. Picture taken June 16. REUTERS/Heino Kalis (SPAIN) 

Cape Verdean musician Tito Paris performs during a concert at the America's Cup Port in Valencia June 16, 2007. Picture taken June 16. REUTERS/Heino Kalis (SPAIN) 

Cape Verdean musician Tito Paris performs during a concert at the America's Cup Port in Valencia June 16, 2007. Picture taken June 16. REUTERS/Heino Kalis (SPAIN) 

Cape Verdean musician Tito Paris performs during a concert at the America's Cup Port in Valencia June 16, 2007. Picture taken June 16. REUTERS/Heino Kalis (SPAIN) 

Abdullah al-Brik of Al-Sadd club (R) fights for the ball with Cape Verdean and al-Ahli soccer player Carlos Pedro during their semi-final match in Qatar's Emir Cup, Doha, May 30, 2005. REUTERS/Fadi AL-Assaad mk 

Cesaria Evora, a singer from the Cape Verde Islands, whose "Morna" style of local folk songs has made her an international star late on in her career, listens to a question during a press conference in Mexico City May 2. A French producer discovered Evora singing in bars and clubs in the Cape Verde islands, and she is now revered as the "Barefoot Diva." Evora is in Mexico City to perform a series of concerts as part the Latin American leg of a World tour.

AW/TB 

Cesaria Evora, a singer from the Cape Verde islands, whose "Morna" style of local folk songs has made her an international star late on in her career, pulls on a cigarette during a press conference in Mexico City May 2. A French producer discovered Evora singing in bars and clubs in the Cape Verde islands, and she is now revered as the "Barefoot Diva". Evora is in Mexico City to perform a series of concerts as part the Latin American leg of a World tour.

AW/MMR