Portugal's general discussion (general events)

[Mike88]

This number will probably increase in the next few hours as another update is expected.

After the May 3rd deadline, the INE continues to update the data returned. The number has risen to 3,785,349 households who responded, totalizing 9,472,599 inhabitants.

[Tender Branson]

Interesting that Portugal and the UK have 90-95% self-response in ca. 1 or 2 weeks, while the US managed only 67% self-response in 7 months ...

[Mike88]

Interesting that Portugal and the UK have 90-95% self-response in ca. 1 or 2 weeks, while the US managed only 67% self-response in 7 months ...

Maybe it's a cultural thing and the relation between society and government institutions in the different countries. Also, don't know how it was in the US, but here in Portugal the INE developed a massive info campaign about the Census, on TV, radio, social media, and it seems to have worked, even though there was the whole "possible leaked data" controversy.

[Mike88]

Census update:

In the last 24 hours, an additional 42,000 households, totalizing more than 100,000 inhabitants, have returned their Census questionnaires. The totals are now 3,827,153 households with 9,576,872 inhabitants.

If this trend continues, the 10 million mark could be surpassed by Monday.

[Mike88]

More reports on the controversial immigrant situation in Odemira, Alentejo:

Border services are overwhelmed with legalization requests:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1391037673385512961

Immigrants. Six times as many requests for legalization come in today than in 2016

In the middle of a pandemic, more than 300 immigrants register daily on the SEF portal. The numbers, which Sexta às 9 had access to, are evidence of an exponential increase that occurred after Parliament passed two amendments to the law on foreigners, which made registration automatic and did not require the submission of an employment contract.

In 2016, SEF received 6 times fewer requests for legalization of immigrants per day.

More info: System of residence authorization is crashing since 2017.

Throughout this week, the country has seen images of inhumanity of immigrants living in Portugal. Reports of how human trafficking mafias approach Portuguese businessmen to whom they propose fortunes to collaborate in this criminal scheme.
Except that this portrait was known for many years and was denounced several times even here at Sexta às 9.

At the base of this humanitarian drama is an amendment to the immigration law made in 2017 that transformed Portugal into a factory for legalizing immigrants in Europe.

A law negotiated between PS, Left Bloc and PCP that deserved immediate criticism from the SEF and even led to the resignation of the then national director of the service that the government now wants to extinguish.

Luisa Maia Gonçalves resigned after having verified that shortly after the approval of the law, the residence permit system collapsed with a volume of processes impossible to inspect.

The result is in sight. In 2016, SEF received 52 requests for legalization of immigrants per day. Today, in the middle of a pandemic, it records 313 every day, that is, 13 per hour.

In 2017, SEF awarded 14 residence permits daily. In 2020, it granted an average of 110. Entrepreneurs, mayors and inspectors, everyone admits that the Portuguese market does not support these daily immigrant inflows.

Odemira is just the tip of an iceberg that is all over the country, in several houses and companies, fictional addresses for thousands of immigrants who use Portugal as the gateway to Europe.

[Mike88]

Death of Ukrainian immigrant Ihor Homeniuk: Border control agents convicted to 7 to 9 years in jail.

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1391762769117159425

Ihor Homeniuk's death. SEF inspectors sentenced to prison terms between 7 and 9 years

Former SEF inspectors accused of the death of Ihor Homeniuk, at Lisbon airport, were sentenced this Monday to effective prison terms between 7 and 9 years old, for offending the physical integrity aggravated by the result (death).

Defendants Duarte Laja and Luís Silva were sentenced to 9 years in prison, while Bruno Sousa was sentenced to 7 years in prison. The three former inspectors will remain under house arrest.

The president of the collective decided that the SEF inspectors "committed a serious offense against qualified physical integrity", aggravated by the result (death).

Upon reading the judgment, the court proved that the aggressions caused the death of Ihor Homeniuk, but not that the SEF inspectors wanted to kill him. In other words, the charge of qualified homicide was not proved.

The court also dropped the accusation of possession of an illegal weapon (extendable baton), which hung over Duarte Laja and Luís Silva.

The court also decided to extract a certificate to investigate SEF guards and other inspectors, involved in the situation and with coordination functions.

"Justice has been served," said the lawyer at the exit from the Campus of Justice in Lisbon, also stating that the convictions serve as an example for all authorities in the exercise of their function, "who cannot abuse the power they have, to harm any citizen".

The lawyer also said that he wants the coercive measure - house arrest - to be revised to a more serious one: preventive detention.

The lawyers for the three SEF inspectors announced their intention to appeal the court's decision.
(...)

[Tender Branson]

96% of Portugal residents have now self-responded to the 2021 Census.

97% of UKers in theirs.

In 3 weeks.

67% of Americans did last year, in 8 months.

Shows you how social cohesion is lacking in the US ...

[Mike88]

96% of Portugal residents have now self-responded to the 2021 Census.

97% of UKers in theirs.

In 3 weeks.

67% of Americans did last year, in 8 months.

Shows you how social cohesion is lacking in the US ...

Yes, as of today, 3,942,391 households have returned their Census questionnaires, totalizing 9,861,522 inhabitants. (95.70% of the estimated population)

I was hoping the 10 million mark would be hit today, but in the last few days, the number of returns from households drooped to around 15,000-20,000 per day. But, during this week, the 10 million mark will most likely be surpassed. Residents have until 31 May to voluntarily return their Census questionnaires.

[Mike88]

Controversial Parliamentary hearing of Benfica President, Luís Filipe Vieira, because of his debts to Novo Banco where he basically said that Mário Centeno should be hanged:

https://twitter.com/cmjornal/status/1391866558251773959

Luís Filipe Vieira says that whoever signed the Novo Banco sale contract "should be hanged"

The President of Promovalor, Luís Filipe Vieira, said this Monday that whoever signed the Novo Banco sale contract, which provides for capital calls to the Resolution Fund, "should be hanged".

"Whoever signed this contract must be hung up. I don't know who did it, hang it up," said the president of Benfica this Monday at his almost five-hour hearing at the Eventual Parliamentary Inquiry Commission to the losses recorded by Novo Banco and imputed to the Resolution Fund, where he was heard as a large debtor.

MP Filipa Roseta (PSD), who questioned Luís Filipe Vieira, referred to Mário Centeno, saying that "he is now at Bank of Portugal" as governor, having been Minister of Finance when the sale contract was signed.

"This is worth saying, a person who did such a thing should be hanged. Signing a contract of this nature cannot be done," continued the head of Promovalor, a company that owes Novo Banco.

Luís Filipe Vieira and Filipa Roseta were discussing devaluations of properties and land whose losses are attributed to the Resolution Fund, an entity in the public sphere that has resorted to Treasury loans to finance itself.

"Believe me: these impairments, these devaluations, do not exist. They exist in the accounts," said the president of Benfica, arguing that if the projects are developed, they will recover their value.

Previously, Luís Filipe Vieira had already discarded responsibility for the losses attributed to taxpayers, saying that "it is comfortable" to create this image.

In 2017, upon the sale of 75% of the bank to Lone Star, a contingent capitalization mechanism was created, whereby the Resolution Fund undertook, until 2026, to cover losses with 'toxic' assets with which Novo Banco remained. BES, up to 3,890 million euros.

Novo Banco has already consumed 2,976 million euros of public money and, under the contract, it can collect another 914 million euros.

Novo Banco had losses of 1,329.3 million euros in 2020, an increase compared to 1,058.8 million recorded in 2019. As for the amount to be asked from the Resolution Fund, Novo Banco indicated that it will be 598.3 million euros .

The Novo Banco Parliamentary hearings have a complete trainwreck with big debtors not remembering how they what deals they made that created massive debts to the former BES, now Novo Banco.

[Mike88]

Night of violence in Lisbon city as police used force to disperse Sporting CP fans who where celebrating the League win:

Video. How the "green" party was tainted by violence

The night was mostly party, but the fans' discontent with the restrictions imposed by the authorities - which culminated in confrontations - ended up tarnishing the atmosphere of euphoria and joy. Despite the delay in the procession of the Sporting team, there were no major incidents during the displacement of the “green and white” bus.

Also on Tuesday, during the meeting between Sporting and Boavista, which dictated the winning of the title, an intervention by the Public Security Police (PSP) in the fanzone created by the cheerleader Youth Leonina, near the Alvalade Stadium, caused the first injuries of the day. The agents fired rubber bullets in the direction of the “Leonine” supporters, one of whom would hit in the leg, but without gravity, a TVI 24 reporter at the scene, the PÚBLICO learned from the station's official source.
(...)
“We had several supporters who started throwing stones and bottles at the Public Security Police (PSP). Currently, there are no detainees, but there are several wounded to register: citizens who were in a party mood and were hit by some bottles and stones thrown by supporters who were at the top ”, explained the commissioner.

At Saint Mary Hospital, in Lisbon, about “a dozen emergency episodes related to the festivities” were recorded, including “minor injuries and abrasions in people who were involved in small brawls and caused by rubber bullets”, but not very serious, as he explained to the PUBLIC the hospital's source.  (...)
Marquis zone marked by clashes

From Alvalade, the tension passed to the Marquis of Pombal, the high point of the procession of the festivities scheduled for dawn. The police installed protective barriers on the perimeter of the roundabout, which were manifestly insufficient to contain supporters of the “lions”. The wait became painful - the bus with the players only left Alvalade at 2 am - and the patience of the supporters was wearing thin.

Several times, in a provocative way, the barriers were broken down. In response, staff from the Intervention Corps moved to the risk area, sometimes using rods and rubber bullets. Even here, several fans were injured. Police officers were also injured.
(...)

[Mike88]

Census update:

The 10 million mark has been surpassed!

As of this evening, 4,002,329 households have returned their Census questionnaires, totalizing 10,009,968 inhabitants.

[Mike88]

Politics editor of Lusa news agency resigns after a racist reference towards a MP was published by the news agency:

https://twitter.com/cmjornal/status/1393178956296298501

Lusa's politics editor resigns after racist reference published in essay

The publication of a Lusa piece with a racist reference against PS MP Romualda Fernandes has already led to the resignation of the agency's Policy editor and the opening of a lawsuit against the journalist who wrote the article, advances Público.

The use of the expression "black" in front of the name of Romualda Fernandes had immediate repercussions within the structure in the policy writing of Lusa. José Pedro Santos, editor of Politics, resigned and Hugo Godinho, the journalist in question, was the target of a "process of investigations".

The Socialist Party says that "racist behavior cannot go unpunished" and demanded an apology to the MP in question, both by Lusa and by the media that published the take - among them was Observador and Expresso newspapers.

During the last few hours, a shower of criticism flooded social networks that did not forgive the 'mistake' on the part of the news agency.

[Mike88]

Census update:

As of this evening, 4,039,037 households have returned their Census questionnaires, totalizing 10,101,264 inhabitants.

The Census deadline is in 14 days, 31 May.

[Mike88]

"Wave" of British tourists expected on the first day of open borders between Portugal and UK:

https://twitter.com/Renascenca/status/1394189818545020934

Sixteen flights with British tourists arrive in the Algarve today.

As of this Monday, citizens of the various EU Member States, countries associated with the Schengen area and the United Kingdom, are allowed to enter Portugal. The Algarve alone expects 16 flights to bring 5,500 Britons to the national territory.

These passengers only have to present a negative PCR test performed within 72 hours prior to departure.

The exceptions are countries with an incidence rate of 500 cases or more per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. Which means that tourists from five European countries cannot enter Portugal: Cyprus, Croatia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden.

That date coincides with the entry into force, this Monday, of the new rules in the United Kingdom for international travel, which are no longer prohibited, with Portugal being one of the 12 countries and territories included in a list that exempts travelers from quarantine in the return.

The lifting of restrictions has been widely anticipated by the tourism sector and the Portuguese authorities due to the weight of the British market, which represents about 20% of the number of visitors to the country.

The Secretary of State for Tourism admits that the European Union will announce on Wednesday the authorization of non-essential travel to and from the United Kingdom. Speaking to the BBC, Rita Marques said that Portugal anticipated the European decision.
(...)

[Mike88]

Census update:

Today the number of returns increased considerably compared with the last few days, with an additional 14,000 households returning their Census data, totalizing around 35,000 inhabitants. And if this trend continues, by next weekend, the total population could reach the estimated population of 10,3 million. We'll see.

Anyway, as of this evening, May 17th, 4,053,104 households have returned their Census questionnaires, totalizing 10,135,735 inhabitants.

[Mike88]

70 children rushed to hospital in Beja city because of food poisoning in school cafeterias:

https://twitter.com/cmjornal/status/1394715328693870593

70 children transported to hospital due to food poisoning in Beja

About 70 children, aged between eight and 12 years old, were transported to the hospital in Beja during the afternoon of this Tuesday due to food poisoning.

CM knows that the children started to feel bad after lunch with symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and some with fever.

According to what Correio da Manhã was able to ascertain, the intoxicated children come from several schools in the municipality, among them the school of Santiago Maior and Mário Beirão. Students at a school in a locality near Beja were also allegedly intoxicated through the consumption of eggs that would not be in conditions suitable for consumption.

The cafeterias of the different educational establishments are served with food from an association.

[Mike88]

EU Court cancels the 1.2 billion euros aid from the Government to TAP airlines but suspends the decision as it can be appealed:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1394955760338153474

EU court cancels 1.2 billion state aid to TAP

The Court of Justice of the European Union annulled the decision of the European Commission approving the State aid of 1200 million euros to the airline TAP, as it considers it "insufficiently reasoned", not yet requiring the return.

"The Commission's decision declaring Portugal's aid to the airline TAP compatible with the internal market is annulled because it is not sufficiently substantiated," the General Court (first instance) said in a press release on Wednesday.

Even so, the structure explains that "the effects of the annulment - including the recovery of the aid - are suspended pending a new decision".

At issue is the appeal brought in that body in July 2020 by the low-cost air carrier Ryanair against the state aid to the Portuguese flag carrier TAP, with the argument that this Portuguese support violates the European treaty and the competition rules.

The objective of the Irish company 'low cost' was that, with this action, the decision of 10 June 2020, when the community executive gave 'green light' to a Portuguese emergency aid to TAP, was annulled.
(...)
As the decision of the General Court is still a first instance, the parties can still appeal to the EU Court of Justice, with a period of two months to do so.

For the General Court, there are "gaps in the reasoning of the contested decision" by Ryanair and taken by the European Commission, since the institution "did not find or specify whether the beneficiary [TAP] was part of a group" and also "did not substantiate its claims. according to which, on the one hand, the beneficiary's difficulties were specific to him and were not the result of an arbitrary allocation of costs to the benefit of his shareholders or other subsidiaries and, on the other hand, that the said difficulties were too serious to be resolved by his managers or other shareholders ".
(...)

Just another episode in the TAP soap opera.

[Mike88]

Controversial ruling: Judge acquits man who dragged his wife on the street justifying that the aggression didn't have enough "cruelty".

https://twitter.com/observadorpt/status/1395761526854795265

Domestic violence. Judge acquits man who dragged woman by the neck

It was not the first episode to involve police. This time, the 37-year-old man grabbed his partner by the neck and forced her into a car. The episode occurred last October, in Paredes, and a passing GNR patrol watched it all: the woman being grabbed, being lifted off the ground and then being dragged by the neck into a vehicle.

Although the facts were proved by the Paredes court, Judge Isabel Pereira Neto considered that there was not enough cruelty for the act to be considered domestic violence. The battered did not testify or press charges, and the man was acquitted. The news is advanced by Jornal de Notícias (content for subscribers).

According to that newspaper, in November 2019 the GNR was called, at night, to the victim's home. The woman was near the room, under heavy rain, and needed the protection of the GNR to be able to enter the house and remove some objects from her and her children, since she would seek shelter in the family home. However, the couple would eventually resume the relationship.
(...)
In the sentence, which the Jornal de Notícias had access to, Judge Isabel Pereira Neto says that “it was proved” that the woman “was grabbed by the neck, by the accused, his partner, who resorted to violence and tried to introduce her into the vehicle ”. Despite this, the judge considers that it was “just an act, which does not have the inherent gravity” to the crime of domestic violence. “We understand that the defendant's conduct does not integrate the concept of ill-treatment, provided for in article 152 of the Penal Code“, based on the thesis that the act did not have enough “cruelty, insensitivity and contempt” to be considered crime of domestic violence.

Isabel Pereira Neto argues that the aggression fulfills the requirements of the crime of offense to physical integrity, but, as it is a semi-public crime, it depends on a formal complaint by the victim - which never happened. Regarding the threats made to the GNR military, the judge considered that it was “an outburst”. Although when the man was arrested and sent to the Guard post, he said that he wanted the name of the GNR to go and look out for them, the magistrate understood that he never wanted to “kill them or even beat them”. 

[Tender Branson]

It seems they removed the daily response updates now.

But it stopped at 10.2 million entries, which is ca. 99% of the estimated Portugal population.

Very good.

[Mike88]

It seems they removed the daily response updates now.

But it stopped at 10.2 million entries, which is ca. 99% of the estimated Portugal population.

Very good.

Yes, they removed the daily update from the website. I don't know why, maybe it's to create some suspense, maybe, I don't know. There may be some kind of update after the May 31 deadline, with INE publishing the responses until that date. During June, they will collect the data of people who didn't responded during the April-May months, plus, but I'm not 100% sure about this, they may also collect the data from nursing homes across the country, which could also add a pretty big chunk of people to the final population numbers. Then in late July/early August, they will publish the preliminary data by district, region and municipalities.

[Mike88]

Police arrests 26 activists that closed the road entrance of Lisbon airport. Activists prostested against the new Lisbon airport, more planes and demanded more investment in railways:

https://twitter.com/Renascenca/status/1396180512700575747

25 activists detained after protest at Lisbon airport roundabout against "more planes".

An action of disobedience promoted by environmental activists stopped the traffic at the main roundabout of the airport Humberto Delgado, in Lisbon, and resulted in the detention of 26 people (one of whom is a minor, informed the PSP). The demonstration called by Climáximo, an environmental collective, had the main objective of alerting to the climate crisis and the impact of aviation on the environment.

At 4:30 pm, scheduled for the start of the protest, about 60 people were gathered in front of the airport. Upon arriving at the Relógio roundabout, the demonstrators ran to try to surprise the police and sat on the road, connected with tubes by their arms.

On some roads around the roundabout, the protesters were unable to sit down and ended up fleeing through the bush along the highway, worrying the authorities and the organization.

At around 5:30 pm, and after some megaphone warnings, the police dragged protesters off the street onto a police bus. About 20 minutes later, another group was removed from another route and, less than 10 minutes later, the last group left on their feet, shouting "victory!" by blocking for about an hour.
(...)

https://twitter.com/ArquivoEphemera/status/1396173284937510914

The organization's spokeswoman, Beatriz Rodrigues, repeated several times one of Climáximo's main keywords. “Our house is on fire”, a slogan on flags, stickers and even tattoos.

Beatriz Rodrigues adds: “Our house is on fire and the Government is turning on the stove”.

The protest focused on the airport because, for the spokesperson for Climáximo, one of the main demands is to put a brake on the airline industry. And the Montijo airport project is an obvious focus of contention.

"We don't want a new airport, neither in Montijo or anywhere," she said.

The activist criticized the deadline for compliance with the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), which foresees an investment of 1.3 billion euros in the Portuguese railway line and in more public transport, as it is "too late".

“We want the electrification of the railway networks by 2024,” said the spokeswoman for Climáximo, who also said she was “in complete solidarity” with workers who were left without work with the closure of the Matosinhos refinery.
(...)

[Mike88]

CNN to launch a channel in Portugal with the partnership of TVI/Media Capital:

https://twitter.com/sapo/status/1396805885855510535

Media Capital announces partnership to create CNN Portugal channel

In a statement sent to the Market Commission (CMVM), Media Capital said that, "on the present date, the subsidiary TVI" and CNN (Turner Broadcasting System Europe) "have entered into a memorandum of understanding for a settlement agreement licensing that provides for the creation of CNN Portugal ".

According to the note, "the channel will be programmed and operated by Media Capital under license from CNN, which will also provide training, consultancy and access to content throughout CNN's portfolio".

Without revealing more details, Media Capital says it will provide more information "after the discussion phase with the regulatory authorities and the completion of the implementation process for this new project, complying with the legal and regulatory procedures".

The news, also broadcast on TVI24 news, should mean a restructuring of this channel until the end of the year, as communicated by the same.

The group also considers that the conclusion of the agreement represents "a new chapter in the history of television in Portugal, since it is a partnership with one of the most innovative, influential and prestigious television channels in the world".

Media Capital - which owns the TVI channels, as well as the Comercial and M80 radio stations, among others - closed the year 2020 with losses of 11.1 million euros, a reduction compared to the year 2019, in which the losses were 54.7 million euros.

[Mike88]

2021 Census: Census worker assaulted by a woman who refused to answer the questionnaire:

https://twitter.com/itwitting/status/1397310548367265800

Censer of the Census 2021 insulted and assaulted in Matosinhos.

A censor of the Census 2021 was attacked, on Monday, in Matosinhos, by a person of a house that did not respond to the inquiry, the president of the Union of Parishes of Matosinhos revealed to the Lusa agency.

The 53-year-old censor knocked on the door of the house, in Matosinhos, in the district of Porto, and was "soon insulted" by a person in her 30s, explained Pedro Sousa, who is also coordinator of the 2021 Census process.

"She knocked on the door and a young woman of about 30 came and started to shout and insult the censor, saying that she did not have to answer, that the census had no logic and to stop bothering," revealed Pedro Sousa, adding: " the enumerator tried to calm the young woman, but she pulled her arm and leaned her against the wall ".

Pedro Sousa also said that the censor did not file a complaint with the authorities for fear of reprisals.

"People have the right not to want to open the door, now they don't have the right to insult and attack," he stressed.

[Mike88]

Boy, 13, run over by a car in Seixal, Lisbon suburbs, as he was fleeing from a group of girls who were bullying him:

https://twitter.com/revistaSABADO/status/1397491552268820485

Child hit by car in Seixal while fleeing aggression from colleagues

A 13-year-old boy was run over last Thursday when he was trying to cross a national road, in Seixal, to escape from fellow girls who harassed him, in a context that is being reported on social networks as bullying.

The boy suffered injuries, was taken to the hospital and is recovering well. PSP source confirms that the participants were "all identified and the case referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office".

In a video with little more than a minute, published on social media on the internet, you can see a girl (from a group of several) attacking the young man and he is shrinking and trying to escape them.

The aggressor is encouraged by others - "go there, go there" - and chases the victim along the side of the Estrada Nacional 10-2, also known as Metalúrgicos Avenue. The boy runs across the road once, with the aggressor behind him, and when he tries to do it a second time he is run over.

The participants will all be students at the Dr António Augusto Louro school, in Arrentela.

[Mike88]

Manchester City and Chelsea fans clash in Porto city and police forced to use force:

The PSP was forced to use force next to São Bento Station, this Thursday night, after disagreements provoked by a group of British supporters who threw bottles and chairs. The riots resulted in a slight wound that was transported to Santo António Hospital with a head injury caused by a thrown object.

The other source of tension was in Ribeira Square, where since the beginning of the afternoon hundreds of British supporters had gathered to socialize. The police device mounted on the site prevented the spread of clashes in that area.

The Champions League final will be discussed on Saturday between Manchester City and Chelsea at Dragão Stadium.