The 25 de Abril Bridge is the Portuguese bridge over the Tagus that was Europe’s longest suspension bridge when it opened in 1966.
The bridge connects Lisbon with Almada and carries road traffic across the Tagus estuary. It was inaugurated as the Salazar Bridge, named after Portugal’s authoritarian leader António de Oliveira Salazar. After the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 ended the Estado Novo regime, it was renamed to commemorate that date.
The bridge’s design and appearance are frequently compared with San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, but the structures are not the same bridge and were built for different sites. The 25 de Abril Bridge has a distinctive red-painted steel framework and a main span of about 1,013 metres. A railway deck was added beneath the road deck in 1999, allowing trains to cross the Tagus as well.