João Sales. Stlying out a smith grind on his own creation.

Fabrica 22 – Lisbon, Portugal

I think of Love and Dedication in several areas of life and I can surely identify these two feelings whenever I see them. This struck me again recently when I saw a raw space, dirty, wet and ugly, turn into an awesome indoor skateable area made with that Love and Dedication I mentioned earlier.

A Day in the Life of Francisco “França” Lopez – Portuguese skatepark designer

One of the leading names in Portugal is Francisco “França” Lopez.

With over a quarter century with a skateboard under his feet, father of a kid who already has amazing skateboarding in his veins, team manager of the Portuguese DC Shoes, and the architect skater with more skate parks designed in Portugal than any other is now facing one of the biggest challenges of his career: create a company to build skate parks, starting at Parque das Gerações. I spent one day with him to try to understand how he can manage all this and still rip like a kid.

Skate scene report: Galicia, Spain

Skating in Spain. The first places that come to mind are Barcelona, the Basque Country, and Madrid. But we all know that there are lots of other interesting locations on this peninsula. This article is all about the north-westernmost corner, Galicia.