Vila das Aves, population 8492 (2001 Census), 6 km², is an industrial town and parish (freguesia

Freguesia

Freguesia is the Portuguese term for a secondary local administrative unit in Portugal and some of its former colonies, and a former secondary local administrative unit in Macau, roughly equivalent to an administrative parish. A freguesia is a subdivision of a concelho, the Portuguese synonym term...

) in northern Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. It is located in the municipality of Santo Tirso

Santo Tirso

Santo Tirso is a city and municipality located in the north of Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto District, Portugal. In the region, the Ave Valley, there is a large center of textile industry....

, 6 km to the northeast of the municipality seat, the city of Santo Tirso proper, bordering the parish of Lordelo in the municipality of Guimarães

Guimarães

Guimarães Municipality is located in northwestern Portugal in the province of Minho and in the Braga District. It contains the city of Guimarães.The present Mayor is António Magalhães Silva, elected by the Socialist Party.-Parishes:-Economy:...

. Vila das Aves (which translates as Town of Birds) is nowadays, after Santo Tirso itself, the most important town in the municipality of Santo Tirso.

Economy

Vila das Aves and neighbouring communities are heavily reliant on textiles for jobs and income. The industry was once vibrant and not so long ago was still causing rush hours when workers were changing shifts; it is now declining, and many ghost factories, some of them architectural monsters, scar the landscape. Although the industry is declining, its effluents still pollute the nearby river Vizela, rendering it black and foamy most of the time and detracting from the beauty of its green banks. The decline of the textile industry has brought unemployment and social problems. However the enterprising local population are pressing ahead with the regeneration of the community. Services are displacing textiles as the main economic activity, and investment in real estate has been growing, fuelled by young demons moving in, attracted by the town’s high quality and low cost of living.

Sports

The local football team

Football team

A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in an against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...

 of Clube Desportivo das Aves was promoted to the Portuguese Liga

Portuguese Liga

The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...

in 2006.