Portugal's general discussion (general events)

[CumbrianLefty]

Was the overall decline in population expected? What would you say are the main reasons??

[Mike88]

Was the overall decline in population expected? What would you say are the main reasons??

Yes, it was expected. Since 2011, the population has been decreasing, however it has stagnated since 2018 and is now going up bit by bit.

The main reasons for this population decrease are the economic situation as many families cannot afford having more kids, thus creating a demographic winter and many young people during the 2011-2014 economic crisis left Portugal to persue better lives and career opportunities in other countries like UK, Germany, Sweden, others. In the last few years, however, Portugal is seeing an influx of immigrants, mainly from Brazil, who are also helping to stop the decrease of population.

[Mike88]

Map with changes 2011 vs 2021 by municipality:

https://twitter.com/recordacontece/status/1420707626674003972

Blue - Decrease population
Red - Increase population

[Mike88]

Fun fact: The parish of Covide, yep there's one with that name in Portugal, has a population of 273 inhabitants. Compared with 2011, this is a drop of 20.4% when the population was at 343.

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covide

[Mike88]

Record drop in new births in the first half of 2021: Just 37,675 births.

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1421420571150139392

4,500 fewer babies were born in the first six months of the year

Fewer 4,472 babies were submitted to the newborn screening in the first six months of the year, data from the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) that allow monitoring of birth rates in Portugal reveals. Between January and June 2021, 37,675 babies were born in Portugal, a substantial difference from the 42,149 babies registered in the same period last year.

The number of babies undergoing newborn screening in the first six months of the year is lower than that registered between January and June 2014, when the economic crisis shrank the birth rate to the lowest values ​​of the previous 50 years: 38,808 births in the first semester of that year. Portugal risks reaching December 31 with fewer babies than in 2014, the year in which there were 75,350 births.

Speaking to Público, demographer Maria João Valente Rosa blames the Covid-19 pandemic for the decrease in birth rates in the first six months of 2021: “We are facing the direct reflection of what happened in 2020, in which the health crisis, which resulted in less access to health care, and the consequent fear of what could come to be the monitoring of the pregnancy process, was added the fear of falling into economic and financial insecurity”.

The impact of the pandemic on migration also justifies this phenomenon, continues the researcher. In 2020, more than 13% of births were from mothers with foreign nationality, so immigration is “a good birth cushion”. But migrations slowed down during the Covid-19 pandemic, so their contribution to the birth rate also declined.

[Mike88]

Works in the Ajuda Palace front street leave houses with doors more than one meter from the sidewalk. It's already becoming a joke:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1422582558513012736

Works leave houses with a door one meter high from the sidewalk. GNR soldiers must enter from the back

(...)
Calçada of Ajuda was closed for a year and a half for works. These are not yet finished, but there was an urgent need to open that street. "It was very important that we were able to open it because closing it caused disturbances in the circulation of cars and people, access to the upper part of the parish was very strangled. As the houses are not for daily use, those responsible for the work decided that it was not a priority to move forward with that part", explains the president of Ajuda parish, Jorge Marques, to JN.

But there were more reasons to rush the venture. About two months ago, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Lisbon visited the new wing of the Ajuda National Palace, completed after being unfinished for more than two centuries. At the time, the Calçada of Ajuda was still being repaired, but on the opening day, "the street was composed".

"As the opening was attended by several important individuals, they were ashamed to leave it badly finished and decided to paint the baseboards, but the work was not and is not finished. If they left it with the appearance of a work or an unpainted wall, the whole we realized that it was still an ongoing project", explains Jorge Marques.

The five houses are part of the State Security and Honors Unit and are used by GNR military personnel. Two are in use at the moment, but the GNR ensures that the congestion is not having an impact as they manage to enter homes from the back.
(...)
Also according to the DGPC "the temporary closure of Calçada of Ajuda was causing great constraints in this area of the city" and its reopening "was essential to restore pedestrian and road circulation (including tram) through this essential street of the parish and city, being eagerly awaited by a large part of the local population".

The refurbishment of Calçada of Ajuda cost more than 30 million euros.

This is so hilarious and at the same so ridiculous and sad.

[Mike88]

Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) vandalized with graffiti with a message in English:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1424431477006077953

Padrão dos Descobrimentos vandalized with message in English

This Sunday, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, in Lisbon, was vandalized with graffiti on one of the sides of the monument, with an extension of about 20 meters and written in English.

The message, confirmed by the PSP to Lusa, reads, in English, "Blindly sailing for monney [sic], humanity is drowning in a scarllet [sic] sea lia [sic]", which, in a free translation, can be read in Portuguese as "Sailing blindly for money, humanity sinks into a scarlet sea."

The occurrence was registered by the PSP during the morning, around 11.30 am, and the fact was communicated to the Lisbon City Council, which oversees the monument, PSP service official, commissioner Rodrigues, told Lusa.

There are no identified suspects, said the duty officer.

[Mike88]

Soaring house prices are forcing Portuguese people to leave Portuguese border towns and settle in the Spanish side:

https://twitter.com/24sapo/status/1429740192005566477

The rise in housing prices is leading the Portuguese to look for housing across the border, since in Spain house values are half of those practiced in Portugal.

According to Expresso, those who work on the border line choose to live in Spain and work in Portugal due to the difference in housing prices between the two countries.

As an example, the big difference in the south is mentioned: in the Algarve a house can be rented for €600 a month, while crossing the border this value drops to half, so that "coming and going" becomes more routine. In a more extreme case, living in a condominium with a swimming pool, gardens and a playground is possible for around €450 in Spain, which on this side would never be less than €650.

But what causes this phenomenon? In Ayamonte, Andalusia, many of the buildings that were planned for tourism and were abandoned due to the crisis "are now starting to be recovered and finished", says the newspaper, so they are placed on the market at attractive prices - to which are added the already known prices of some products, such as fuel and even cars.
(...)
Also with regard to buying a house, the values are quite different. Further north, in Orense, near Chaves, a house can cost around 44 thousand euros — compared to 120 thousand on the Portuguese side. The same happens in the Vigo region, where 170 m2 apartments cost around €39,500.

Like the article says, if it was only housing costs... Fuel and gas canister prices are higher in Portugal than in Spain, even though the Spanish earn 50% more than what the Portuguese earn.

[Mike88]

Police arrests two alleged ISIS members in the Lisbon metro area:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1433383772544815114

BREAKING NEWS | Lisbon. Two people arrested on suspicion of connection to Daesh

The National Counterterrorism Unit (UNCT) of the Judiciary Police (PJ) detained two foreign nationals for alleged involvement with the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The arrests took place in the Lisbon area.

In a statement sent to the newsrooms, the Judiciary Police informs that the two foreign citizens are indicted "for the commission of crimes of joining and supporting the international terrorist organization, international terrorism, and against humanity."
(...)
The arrests and searches took place in the Lisbon region in an operation carried out "with the participation of the magistrate of the prosecutor responsible for the investigation and various staff from the criminal investigation and experts from the Information Technology Expertise Unit (UPTI) of the Judiciary Police".

According to the PJ, the evidence collected "indicates that these two individuals have taken different positions in the structure of ISIS / Da’esh, and they are also the object of investigation by the competent Iraqi Judicial Authorities".

The Portuguese authorities also inform that "no evidence was identified that they had committed any crimes of this nature in national territory".
(...)

[Mike88]

Police to file complaint against denial and anti-vaxx judge Rui Fonseca e Castro after he insulted police officers in Lisbon:

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1435595943177596931

Justice: PSP to file a complaint against judge who tried to "provoke" the police

Judge Rui Fonseca e Castro “provoked” elements of the PSP who were yesterday in the Superior Council of Magistracy, by shouting at them that they should put themselves in their place and that he was the judicial authority, being “above” them.
(...)

This happened yesterday when Judge Fonseca e Castro was being heard by the Superior Council of Magistracy because of his possible expulsion from the judgeship. His anti-vaxx remarks and that Covid doesn't exist have infuriated the Council of Magistracy. During the hearing, Judge Fonseca e Castro also insulted other judges by saying they were corrupt and that they "are at same level of the President of the Supreme Court of Equatorial Guinea or Morocco."

[Mike88]

Portugal's biggest solar power plant, and one of the biggest non-subsidised power plants in Europe, is already working:

https://twitter.com/ojeconomico/status/1439581387728855041

Solara4. Largest solar power plant in the country has already entered into operation

The Solara4 photovoltaic plant, in the Algarve municipality of Alcoutim, has already received an operating license from the General Directorate of Energy and Geology (DGEG). According to a statement released this Sunday by the organisation, this "is now the largest photovoltaic plant in the country and the largest unsubsidized plant in Europe."

Licensed last September 15 by the energy authorities, the park has more than 660,000 panels installed with a unit power of between 330 watts and 340 watts, for a total of 219 megawatts (MW) installed and an injection power into the grid limited to 200 megavolt-amperes (MVA) thus began to operate.

“Its exploitation will annually avoid the emission of 177 thousand tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and will make it possible to supply electricity equivalent to the consumption of 200 thousand homes”, explains the DGEG.

This plant, located in Martim Longo, municipality of Alcoutim, also has 40 transformer stations and 125 inverters with an available power of 1,600 killovolt-ampere (KVA) and is connected to the public utility grid through the Tavira substation, through a private 400-kV (KV) service line that connects the plant to the substation, the note reads.

The Directorate-General for Energy also emphasizes that "this type of infrastructure", which occupies a discontinuous area of ​​320 hectares, was the subject of a favorable Environmental Impact Assessment and "it is essential for Portugal to achieve the goal of promoting the decarbonization of the energy sector" .

[Mike88]

Police worried about rising violence during the night in Lisbon and Porto. Mayors demand more policing and surveillance:

https://twitter.com/Publico/status/1448383085758844937

Lisbon: Police concerned about violence in Porto and Lisbon nights

Streets full of fun-seekers. Frustration and impatience of those who cannot get into bars and clubs. This is the cocktail of the nights of Porto and Lisbon, ready to explode to disagreements like the one on Sunday, in Porto, which caused the death of a 23-year-old young man. Mayors, sector associations and establishments are calling for increased policing at night and video surveillance.

The police authorities are attentive and concerned about the episodes of violence that have been registered at night in Porto and Lisbon, one of which resulted in the death of a 23-year-old boy a few days ago. There are those who speak of a post-pandemic euphoria, to which is added a decrease in the offer of clubs and bars, which generates a greater concentration of young people in certain areas. The new rules, which require the presentation of a vaccination certificate or a negative test for the new coronavirus, do not help. They create lines and these are often reasons for disagreement. Perhaps this is why aggressions for futile reasons are increasingly common. And police resources remain scarce.
(...)

[Mike88]

Fuel prices reach 2 euros per liter in gas stations across the country for the first time:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1448379799525728256

Petrol surpassed two euros for the first time

For the first time, in Portugal, a fuel exceeded the barrier of two euros per liter. A price recorded in some parts of the country and at stations located in service areas on highways.

This is the special 98 gasoline which, at various Repsol and BP stations, reached 2,004 and 2,009 euros per liter, respectively, after the increases on Monday.

Although Repsol's figures reflect the price charged in service areas on the country's main motorways, BP's were charged at some service stations in Lisbon and Alentejo.

The historical value has already been reversed in some stations that lowered the price to 1.999 euros, but it reflects an escalation never seen before in our country, where fuels have already increased 35 times this year.

P.S.: The gasoline 98 is rarely used, but normal gasoline, gasoline 95, the most used, is at 1,83 euros and rising.

[Mike88]

Chaotic scenes in a football match in Setúbal where the police fired shots to the air:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1449803788064202753

PSP shoots into the air in the Setúbal district game

https://twitter.com/cartilhaReborn/status/1449807926395379714

The game between Olímpico do Montijo and Vitória de Setúbal's B team ended this Sunday afternoon with clashes between fans and players. The PSP had to shoot into the air to try to stop the attacks.

The visiting team, Vitória de Setúbal, left the stadium with a police escort, according to JN.

Among the clashes, there were no serious injuries. Until around 8 pm, no arrests were known.

The attacks took place right after the final whistle of the match, which ended in a zero draw, counting for the 1st district division.

[Mike88]

Upper Minho mayors, celebrities and population protest against Lithium exploration in the area:

https://twitter.com/ominhopt/status/1451887190062084098

Quim Barreiros, Canário and over a thousand people protest against lithium in Serra d’Arga

More than a thousand people, including the mayors of five municipalities, are taking part today in Viana do Castelo in a protest against prospecting for lithium in Serra d’Arga, according to figures from the organization.

The concentration for the protest began at 10:00 am, at the Youth Hostel of Viana do Castelo, with four mayors of the PS (Viana do Castelo, Caminha, Vila Nova de Cerveira and Paredes de Coura) and one from the CDS-PP ( Ponte de Lima) to join the demonstration against the prospecting and research projects for lithium planned for Serra d'Arga.

All “united” to tell the Government “that mines are not worth” compromising “a unique heritage”.

“The value we have in Serra d’Arga is much higher than what could come from mining. Environmental preservation is an incalculable value in the future. Anyone with a landscape, balance and biodiversity has an inestimable heritage that will be worth much more than many mines”, said the president of the Paredes de Coura Chamber, Vítor Paulo Pereira.
(...)

[NewYorkExpress]

So, the Portuguese Parliament passed a law that bans employers from contacting their employees after work hours.

A law passed by the Portuguese parliament makes it illegal for employers to contact employees after work hours, a step the country has made to promote healthier work-life balance amid a surge of home workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

In legislation approved Friday, employers could face financial penalties for contacting employees outside of work hours, including increased gas and electricity bills, according to Portugal's Socialist Party government.

The law is part of an effort to appeal to remote workers coming to Portugal.

....


Additional rules are also set to be implemented to bolster workers from home, according to the Associated Press. Those include one to offset loneliness, with a mandatory face-to-face meeting with a boss every few months, and another to assist parents of young children, giving them the right to work from home with kids up to 8 years old without having to arrange in advance with employers

Not all the proposals were passed through parliament. A "right to disconnect" law giving workers the ability to switch off work devices was not approved.

[Mike88]

So, the Portuguese Parliament passed a law that bans employers from contacting their employees after work hours.

A law passed by the Portuguese parliament makes it illegal for employers to contact employees after work hours, a step the country has made to promote healthier work-life balance amid a surge of home workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

In legislation approved Friday, employers could face financial penalties for contacting employees outside of work hours, including increased gas and electricity bills, according to Portugal's Socialist Party government.

The law is part of an effort to appeal to remote workers coming to Portugal.

....


Additional rules are also set to be implemented to bolster workers from home, according to the Associated Press. Those include one to offset loneliness, with a mandatory face-to-face meeting with a boss every few months, and another to assist parents of young children, giving them the right to work from home with kids up to 8 years old without having to arrange in advance with employers

Not all the proposals were passed through parliament. A "right to disconnect" law giving workers the ability to switch off work devices was not approved.

This has been discussed for a while now, and the pandemic, plus working from home, increased the discussion. However, it's not a final bill yet. Parliament approved that the draft can go to a Parliamentary Committee and then the final bill text has to be, again, submitted to Parliament for approval, which will probably only happen after the 2022 elections.

[CumbrianLefty]

Generally speaking, a very good idea.

[Mike88]

Scandal in the Portuguese Armed Forces as it is revealed that Army officials have been trafficking drugs, diamonds and gold during UN missions in Africa:

https://twitter.com/tvi24pt/status/1457629112986738690?cxt=HHwWhIC93ZL9xLooAAAA

TVI News: Army elite smuggles diamonds, gold and drugs on UN missions

The Judiciary Police carried out, this Monday morning, the biggest operation of the year, with about 320 inspectors, in 100 searches, from North to South, in what is a new scandal for the Armed Forces after the Tancos case. The PJ has arrest warrants for commands and former commands, the elite of the Army, under suspicion of having set up a criminal association around the Portuguese missions, under the UN, in the Central African Republic (RCA). At issue, TVI knows, trafficking in diamonds, gold and drugs, which they transport from that country at war to Europe aboard military aircraft whose cargo is not inspected.

Then there is an elaborate money laundering scheme, including through the purchase of bitcoins, a virtual currency traded on the Internet without the control of the financial authorities.
(...)
The business is mainly based on profit from so-called blood diamonds - extracted from a country in constant armed and bloody conflict, with thousands of dead already recorded, where control of mines is also disputed. In the last decade, Portugal has integrated dozens of United Nations contingents for peacekeeping operations in that country. And it was in this context that the military saw the opportunity to engage themselves in the trafficking of precious stones, whose extraction is often carried out using the forced labor of children.

Commands take advantage of the non-supervision of military aircraft when returning from missions. And, given this logistical advantage, they took advantage of a kind of diplomatic immunity to extend the military transport of diamonds to that of drugs and gold from that African country. From Portugal, as far as rough diamonds are concerned, they are then transported by land to Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium, where they are sold at multi-million prices.

This is followed by an elaborate scheme to hide these illicit proceeds - money laundering -, using figureheads when opening bank accounts, and acquiring, for example, bitcoins.
(...)

So, far, 2 of the 11 army commands presented to a judge will be sent to jail and await trial there. The other 9 will remain in freedom but will be forced to periodic presentations to authorities.

[Mike88]

Portuguese Catholic Church to open investigation on sexual abuse in the Church:

https://twitter.com/cmjornal/status/1458808912455651337?cxt=HHwWksC-4cG-3b4oAAAA

Society - Portuguese commission created to stop sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

The Portuguese Catholic Church will proceed with a historical investigation into the issue of sexual abuse. This investigation will be carried out by an Independent Commission made up of lay people.

The Assembly decided to create a "national commission to strengthen and expand the handling of cases and the respective follow-up at the civil and canonical level and to carry out the study in order to clarify the history of this serious issue. In this sense, a permanent point of listening is created at the level national", says the Plenary Assembly of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference in a statement. The commission is made up of lay people from various fields such as Law, Psychiatry and Psychology.

The Church "reflects on the protection of vulnerable children and adults in ecclesial spheres and in society as a whole. The Church continues to face this issue seriously, both in terms of support and care for victims, and in terms of prevention and training."

The Assembly also expressed a vote of confidence to the Portuguese clergy in general who, with all their availability and dedication, continue to serve the Church in its pastoral ministry.

[Mike88]

Meanwhile in rural Portugal...

Cow rescued from a rooftop in Barcelos, Braga district:

https://twitter.com/cmjornal/status/1461278934658695176

Videos - Firefighters rescue cow from the roof in Barcelos

Two rescue teams from the firefighters of Viatodos and Famalicenses have been engaged since 2:30 pm in the rescue of a cow that fell on the roof of a house, in Carreira, Barcelos. The peacekeepers are trying, using a crane, to remove the animal from the roof of the house.

The alert was given at 2:30 pm, for Rua de Santo António, in that parish of the municipality of Barcelos. Apparently, the animal may have fallen from a higher ground onto the roof of the house. The first team of firefighters to leave for the scene with an extrication car, ended up having to ask for help, and Famalicenses firefighters were mobilized to the scene with a crane.

[Mike88]

Last coal power plant in Portugal ceases production:

https://twitter.com/expresso/status/1462136339713994754?cxt=HHwWhMC93aLQxsooAAAA

The production of electricity from coal in Portugal has ended

It is a historic moment in the Portuguese electricity system: the Pego coal plant, in Abrantes, produced electricity for the last time on Friday morning, and, with no more coal to burn, closes a chapter in the country's energy history

Tejo Energia's thermoelectric power plant, in Pego, no longer has coal to burn. It stopped producing on Friday morning, in what is a milestone in the history of the national electricity system, which has abandoned coal as a way of generating electricity.

According to data from REN - Redes Energéticas Nacionais, the Pego coal-fired power station was still operating at dawn on Friday, but already at low load, with a power of 151 megawatts (MW) at 6:15 am. In REN's balance sheet, at 7:15 am on Friday, the Pego plant was already at zero.

The plant, which has a capacity of 628 MW, distributed over two generator groups, has registered two unavailability notices, dated 18 November, and relating to these two generator groups, which extend until 30 November, the last day of the plant contract.
(...)
The national electricity system is thus only dependent, for the purposes of security of supply and in response to the variability of production from renewable sources, on combined cycle power stations powered by natural gas (which emit about half of carbon dioxide for each megawatt hour of electricity compared to emissions from coal-fired power stations).

One of these combined cycle gas power stations is also located in Pego.

The closure of the Pego coal plant leaves a hundred and a half workers with an uncertain future.

The Government has already launched a tender for the conversion of this thermoelectric plant, making the energy injection capacity that currently belongs to Tejo Energia available to new producers, with a requirement that the future exploitation of this connection to the electricity grid be made using renewable sources.
(...)

[Mike88]

7 Borussia Dortmund supporters arrested after clashes with the police in Lisbon last night:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1463474740417286152?cxt=HHwWkMCihbmhp88oA...

Seven Dortmund supporters arrested after contempt in Bairro Alto in Lisbon.

Seven Borussia Dortmund supporters were arrested in Lisbon on Tuesday night following contempt in Bairro Alto, with two police officers suffering minor injuries, informed a source from the Lisbon Metropolitan Command (Cometlis).
"The contempt began at 23:40 at Rua da Atalaia, in Bairro Alto. Fifty supporters of the German club Borussia Dortmund started throwing various objects, among chairs and tables," reported the source.
(...)
"Thirty people were involved in clashes after the game. Six supporters were injured, of which five were assisted on the spot and one was taken to hospital," he said.

[Biden his time]

Damn "Mike88", I don't think I've seen you before but you're doing a great job keeping this forum updated on Portugal. Props to you man.

[Mike88]

Damn "Mike88", I don't think I've seen you before but you're doing a great job keeping this forum updated on Portugal. Props to you man.

Thanks for the feedback. I post more on the Portugal thread in the International forum than in this one, but I try to keep both updated at the same time.