Portugal's general discussion (general events)

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

There is something that feels completely absurd in the idea of a sanctuary laying off employees, but alas, I guess that is how the world works.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

There is something that feels completely absurd in the idea of a sanctuary laying off employees, but alas, I guess that is how the world works now.

Yeah, plus Fátima's finances have always been surrounded in a big mystery. The media is also reporting that they don't publish their annual accounts since 2006. The lay off of many workers is creating some controversy as there were huge investments in a new modern church, urban development in the last few years. This controversy may not go away. We'll see.

I understand.

By the way, does the other headline mean that there were no medicine courses in any private universities in Portugal before this year? If so, why?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

There is something that feels completely absurd in the idea of a sanctuary laying off employees, but alas, I guess that is how the world works now.

Yeah, plus Fátima's finances have always been surrounded in a big mystery. The media is also reporting that they don't publish their annual accounts since 2006. The lay off of many workers is creating some controversy as there were huge investments in a new modern church, urban development in the last few years. This controversy may not go away. We'll see.

I understand.

By the way, does the other headline mean that there were no medicine courses in any private universities in Portugal before this year? If so, why?

Yes, it's the first private school medical course to be approved in Portugal, and there were no private medical courses before this decision. The university, Catholic University of Lisbon, will start receiving students maybe this year and definitely next year.

The debate of private medical courses in Portugal is going on for many years. Supporters of the idea say that because vacancies in the public medical universities are very few a year, plus adding the high grade of admission, 18/19 out of 20 grades, many students leave the country to study in foreign universities or drop the idea of forging a medical career. Opponents of the idea say that to be a doctor you need very high grades, plus that there are already many doctors without any vacancy to specialize in and others, like the Medical Bar Association, says that private universities will have "insufficient resources" and could fail to provide students full access to study all pathologies. To add, that the wage of a NHS doctor in Portugal is quite small and many work in public and private hospitals at the same time. The argument that this will create doctors to be unemployed is also used.

Private universities had always interest in having private medicine courses but very high investments and other legal issues made it hard. But governments, both PS and PSD, saw with interest this possibility as vacancies in public universities were drooping and the current minister suggested the solution is to finally open a private course.

I believe these are the main reasons, that I'm aware of.

Do medicine faculties have numerus clausus (i.e. only a set number of students can enroll to the courses each year) in Portugal?
In Italy, where medicine courses at private universities have always existed, they do have it.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Yes, each year medical universities open a limit number of course vacancies, but the government always criticizes it for being to small, and then you have the pressure of the government on private universities to invest in medicine courses to increase the number of vacancies, that is now reality.

I see. In Italy instead the pressure is always (but for obvious reasons especially this year) to abolish numerus clausus (although it still has not happened).

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Highest number of deaths in Portugal since 1920

Interesting that it's exactly a century. But yeah, that's really bad.

However, how far back does it go if one takes the relative death rate instead of absolute numbers? I assume that in 1920 Portugal's population was quite smaller.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

1. When will the full results of this 2021 Portuguese Census be released to the public?

2. That new pedestrian bridge in Arouca looks amazing and gorgeous. However it's a shame that there is a ticket to pay to use it.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Overcrowded train in the suburbs of Lisbon forced to stop midway:

Wow... I was actually on a train of the same line (going back from Sintra to Lisbon) just one or two hours before that one, I can confirm we were packed up like sardines to an extent I had never seen before. And of course the train was half an hour late to begin with.