Portugal's general discussion (general events)

[Mike88]

The universe works in mysterious ways:

In 2016, a viral moment was caugh on camera with Cristiano Ronaldo throwing a CMTV microfone to a lake after becoming annoyed with a reporter from the same channel. Ronaldo and CMTV, a TV channel, owned by Correio da Manhã newspaper, that is known for its sensational news and that has a viewing share of 5-6%, had always a bad relationship due to the stories CMTV reported regarding Ronaldo and his family.

The 2016 viral moment:

But now, Cofina, the company that owns Correio da Manhã and CMTV, is going to be bought by new shareholders and one of them is... Cristiano Ronaldo, who is expected to own 30% of the company.

And now it's official: Cristiano Ronaldo now owns 30% of Cofina Media company.

The shareholders of Cofina have approved the sale of the company to a consortium of Cofina staff and Cristiano Ronaldo. 99.64% of those present voted in favour and 0.36% abstained. No votes against.

CMTV, Cofina's flagship TV channel, was also involved in a hilarious fiasco, fail, whatever, that went viral, during last week's coverage of the floods in Northern Portugal, and even involved my hometown. I mean, just watch:

[Mike88]

Immigrant population reaches a record high: More than 1 million people until last week.

https://twitter.com/dntwit/status/1717666957233975734

Immigrants, More than one million with residence permits

It is a historic record: for the first time the number of immigrants with residence permits exceeded the threshold of one million.

According to official data released this Thursday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 306,000 new residence visas were granted this year which, added to the 781,915 registered in 2022, results in 1,087,995 - more than one million.

This number is, however, even higher if we add the 154 thousand CPLP residence permits and the approximately 60 thousand temporary protection visas for Ukrainian citizens, that is, close to 1.3 million foreign citizens already live legally in Portugal. This significant increase in new authorizations - more than double those granted last year - also changed the "top 10" of most representative nationalities.

Thus, Brazil continues to lead, alone, with 400,759; followed by Ukraine (77,680); from the United Kingdom (56,983); from Angola (55,983); from Cape Verde (54,335); from India (47,558); from Italy (30,914); from Guinea Bissau (36,036); from France (30,656); and Nepal (30,366).
(...)

There are around 300,000 pending residence permits still to be issued according to the Interior Affairs Ministry, but these permits could suffer strong delays as the current border control agency, SEF, is set to close this weekend and be substituted by a new one, AIMA. This change has been quite chaotic and confusing.

[Mike88]

Economic numbers: GDP shrinks -0.2% in the 3rd quarter, while inflation drops to a 2-year low, 2.1%.

https://twitter.com/ECO_PT/status/1719288716315795871

Economy contracted 0.2% in the third quarter due to the “significant reduction” in exports.

The economy suffered a contraction of 0.2% in the third quarter, due to the “significant reduction” in exports of goods, reveals the National Statistics Institute this Tuesday. In year-on-year terms, GDP grew 1.9%, a slowdown compared to the year-on-year growth of 2.6%, a value revised upwards.

“Compared to the second quarter of 2023, GDP registered a decrease of 0.2%, after a chain growth of 0.1% in the previous quarter“, says INE, which revised upwards the values for the second quarter, in which was registering a chain of stagnation, given the new information incorporated.

“The contribution of net external demand to the chain rate of change in GDP became negative, after having been positive in the second quarter, reflecting the reduction in exports of both goods and services, including tourism”, explains the estimate quickly. The economists interviewed by ECO all anticipated a drop in exports, which in the case of goods would have been aggravated by the shutdown of Autoeuropa, and in services by a slowdown in tourism.

The contribution of domestic demand “went from negative to positive in the third quarter, with increases in private consumption and investment”, adds the same note. Santander's chief economist, who anticipated a 0.2% quarter-on-quarter contraction, explained precisely that “the main drivers of growth” continued to be “domestic demand, with private consumption making a very positive contribution” , Rui Constantino said that the investment “will have continued on a path of weak growth in the context of higher financing costs”.
(...)

[Mike88]

Three Credit Agencies now have Portugal with an A rating:

https://twitter.com/ECO_PT/status/1725631565193990648

Moody's raises Portugal's rating despite the political crisis

In the midst of the political crisis, the North American agency Moody's decided to raise Portugal's rating by two levels, from 'Baa2' to 'A3'. It is the third agency to review the Portuguese debt rating upwards this year, after Fitch and DBRS. “This is the best record since 2011”, notes the Ministry of Finance, in a statement to newsrooms.

Moody’s, which tends to be the most cautious of the rating agencies, points out, however, that there are “political risks” – after António Costa resigned due to “corruption investigations” – that cast a shadow on the economic and budgetary trend in the country. And these risks can “slow down progress in investment and reforms linked to the Recovery and Resilience Plan [PRR]”. Still, the agency believes that Portuguese institutions resolve the political issue “in an effective and transparent way”.
(...)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Good news for the Socialists, presumably?

[Mike88]

Good news for the Socialists, presumably?

Yes and no. Yes, because this could be used, not sure it will though, as the markets have more confidence in a future PS win and government. No, because this can also mean that the markets believe that neither side, PS or PSD, leftwing or rightwing, will change much of the current fiscal and economic policies and/or strategies.

[GP270watch]

Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row

Portugal produced more than enough renewable power to serve all its customers for six straight days, from October 31 to November 6.

“The gas plants were there, waiting to dispatch energy, should it be needed. It was not, because the wind was blowing; it was raining a lot,” said Hugo Costa, who oversees Portugal for EDP Renewables, the renewables arm of the state utility, which was privatized in 2012. ​“And we were producing with a positive impact to the consumers because the prices have dropped dramatically, almost to zero.”

 AWESOME!

[Mike88]

We had like 3 or 4 big storms in just one month. The amount of rain and wind was just through the roof. However, if the North and Center are soaking yet, the South is still with high levels of drought.

% of water in the soil: https://www.ipma.pt/pt/agrometeorologia/smi/

[Mike88]

Another big police raid in the Alentejo region against slavery and human trafficking. 28 people arrested:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1726923409987080329

The Judicial Police is carrying out a major operation to combat human trafficking in Alentejo this Tuesday, resulting in almost three dozen arrests.

Suspects withhold victims' salaries and make fortunes, displaying various outward signs of wealth

The National Counterterrorism Unit of the Judiciary Police launched another major operation to combat human trafficking this Tuesday morning, with dozens of searches and at least 28 arrests in the areas of Évora and the town of Cuba, according to the CNN Portugal. There are hundreds of inspectors involved.

The suspects, in addition to trafficking in human beings, must also be held accountable for criminal association, forgery of documents and money laundering, for the way in which they exploit, in sub-human conditions and semi-slavery, for profit, hundreds of foreign workers in agricultural fields, especially from upper Alentejo.

They withhold the victims' salaries and make a fortune, displaying various outward signs of wealth. The scheme, taken with carbon paper from others already dismantled by the PJ, begins with the recruitment of labor in the victims' countries of origin, attracted to a better life in Portugal - with accommodation, decent wages and working conditions, which turns out to be a deception.
(...)

[Mike88]

Police arrests 20 people suspect of forging water analysis for human consumption in several municipalities:

https://twitter.com/dntwit/status/1727286823951671513

PJ arrests 20 suspects for falsifying water analysis for human consumption

Operation "Water Drop" focused on the fraudulent activity of a laboratory responsible for collecting and analyzing water intended for human consumption, waste water, bathing water, swimming pools, streams, boreholes and wells, among others.

According to the PJ, the targeted laboratory, "which is duly accredited, falsified all sampling and analysis procedures relating to the control of water for human consumption contracted by the managing entities (City Halls, Intermunicipal Entities or other entities to which it was granted concession that public service), in collusion with some of the employees, directors and local elected representatives of these entities".

The laboratory's fraudulent activity, adds this criminal police body, was also evident at the level of wastewater control, in the analyzes carried out to assess compliance with discharge licenses from the Wastewater Treatment Stations of several municipalities.

According to the PJ, the falsification aimed to reduce laboratory costs, putting into question the trust and reliability of the analysis results and, consequently, the quality of the water ingested daily by the communities.

The 20 detainees, aged between 25 and 61, are employees and directors of the laboratory, employees, directors and local elected representatives of Management Entities and/or companies (municipal councils and concession companies) and will be presented for judicial interrogation to apply coercive measures. considered appropriate.
(...)

The police raids are focused in 4 City Halls: Vila Real (PS), Vila Pouca de Aguiar (PSD), Vila Flor (PSD) and Alfândega da Fé (PS).

[Mike88]

Yikes!! National Anthem fail in the December 1st Independence Restoration celebrations:

I believe she's singing a part of the Anthem that is not usually sang or used, but, still, akward.

[Mike88]

NHS crisis: Closed pediatric emergency at Santa Maria da Feira Hospital forces mother to call 112 (Portuguese 911) just in front of the hospital's door.

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1731315810730168552

INEM was called to help a child outside the Santa Maria da Feira Hospital. The child's mother decided to call the Medical Emergency Institute because the Pediatric Emergency Department was closed.

The child, who reportedly had convulsions at home due to a high fever, was transported by his mother to Hospital S. Sebastião, in Feira.

When she arrived there, the mother found the pediatric emergency department closed, a closure dictated by the doctors' refusal to exceed the overtime hours established by law and which had already been announced, but which was not known to the woman and other parents who went to that service.

With the child prostrate due to his fever and without any assistance, the woman was advised to call Linha Saúde24. This service ended up triggering the INEM team, which is located on the Hospital premises, approximately 30 meters from the emergency room.

The child would end up being assisted by this team, next to his mother's car, right in front of the emergency room, until he was stabilized.

She was then transported by Feira firefighters to Gaia Hospital, where she was assisted by a medical team.

The event generated outrage among some people who were there and witnessed what happened.

JN learned from a hospital source that the child did not present with seizures at that time and that, if he did, he would have been treated in the general emergency department (adults).

Several emergency services have been affected by doctors' refusal to work overtime beyond the 150 hours per year provided for by law. The Executive Board of the SNS, I. P. (DE-SNS) published this weekend the deliberation regarding the operation of the emergency services network in the week of December 3rd to 9th.

[Mike88]

Police arrests 20 people suspect of forging water analysis for human consumption in several municipalities:

The wiretaps from this investigation are worthy of being hung on the wall:

- Let them boil the f*****g water. (...) Look, if we have the phone tapped, we're both going to jail.

- Oh, oh, if I go to jail because of this, half of the country was in prison.

- If you go, I'll go with you, we won't have anyone bringing us cigarettes.

- Also, d**n it, with so much corruption in the country, who doesn't go there... By altering a s****y microbiology, we're going to end up there, but I don't know... if it's a crime.

- Look, we're going to have a serious problem, we lacked a sample in Mós [parish].

- Oh, make one up, f**k it, I don't care.

- They're pseudomonas [bacteria], doctor.

- Oh, it doesn't matter (...) Oh man, let everyone die... Oh, but does anyone die? Nobody dies, Ms Teresa.

Exquisite.

[Mike88]

New Lisbon airport: Independent Committee reveals their results and proposes Alcochete as the site for the new airport.

https://twitter.com/dntwit/status/1732032100117962915

Commission indicates that Alcochete is the best option for a new airport

One of the longest "soap operas" in the world, alongside Coronation Street , with a lot of "drama, deceit and revenge", had a new chapter today. The Independent Committee, tasked to give data for the best site to built a new airport, presented, this afternoon, their findings and they concluded that Alcochete, around 40 km (25 miles) from Lisbon city and in the south bank of the Tagus river, is the best site for the new airport. The Committee also proposes a "dual solution" in the short term with the new airport in Alcochete being complementary to the current Portela/Humberto Delgado airport. The final decision will be made during 2024, by the new government to be elected in the March 2024 snap elections.

(I will only believe in the new airport when I see it)

[Mike88]

Private healthcare: Number of private health insurance continues to break records.

https://twitter.com/SICNoticias/status/1733858505168503181

More than 3.5 million Portuguese people have health insurance

During the pandemic the number of subscribers grew and has been increasing. The increase in demand has not left the private health sector indifferent, which, in response, has taken advantage of the situation to expand the business.

According to the accounts of the Portuguese Association of Insurers, published by Jornal de Notícias, in 2019 there were 2.8 million health insurance subscribers, in 2022 this figure stood at 3.4 million and in the 1st half of this year there were already 3,6 million.

This is an attractive and voluntary alternative, but only for those who have a budget that can support this monthly expense, since the cost of health insurance is, at this time, around 360 euros per year.
(...)

Data since 2005: (% share of population above 16 years old with private healthcare insurance)

2005: 19.6%
2010: 19.7%
2015: 24.0%
2020: 32.9%
2022: 35.0%
2023: ~39% (1st semester data with current population numbers)

[Mike88]

Lisbon City Hall vandalized by Climate and Palestinian activists:

https://twitter.com/ECO_PT/status/1738146461789966813

Activists raise the Palestinian flag on the balcony of Lisbon City Hall and paint the facade

Activists in solidarity with the Palestine Liberation Collective, Climáximo and the Lisbon Student Climate Strike raised a Palestinian flag on the balcony of the Lisbon City Council (CML) and painted the facade of the building in red, including the word "genocidal", during the early hours of this Friday.

In a post on Instagram, the Palestine Liberation Collective writes that the protest served to denounce "Carlos Moedas' unconditional support for a colonial project that, for more than 75 years, has been based on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."

"The positions and actions of the president of the CML make him and the municipality complicit in the genocide that, for more than two months, the Israeli regime has been carrying out in Palestine. Since last October 7th alone, more than 20 thousand Palestinian people have been killed by the Zionist army, almost 2 million were displaced, in a clear continuation of the Nakba (catastrophe, in Arabic). We cannot consent to institutions that celebrate an apartheid regime, supporting this genocide. Not even the minimum is guaranteed — the diplomatic and of all economic and political relations between the CML and the Zionist regime — today we have made it impossible to ignore the role of this institution in legitimizing apartheid and continued war crimes. We fight for the end of the occupation of Palestine and the self-determination of its people. We will not witness parades to genocide.”
(...)

[Mike88]

Influenza A virus puts hospitals in alert as wanting periods reach up to 18 hours for patients in emergency rooms:

https://twitter.com/RTPNoticias/status/1739768048696099289

Influenza A is worrying hospitals. The emergency room at Hospital de São João had a peak in attendance. By 6pm, 700 users had been admitted, most with symptoms of respiratory infection.

The average waiting times for urgent patients in hospitals in the Lisbon region varied at 08:30 this Wednesday between almost 18 hours, in Fernando Fonseca (Amadora-Sintra), and 01:06, in Garcia de Orta, in Almada.

According to data from the National Health Service Portal, consulted by Lusa, 60 patients with a yellow bracelet (urgent) were at 8:30 am today in the general emergency department of the Fernando Fonseca hospital (Amadora-Sintra), with an average waiting time of 17 hours and 56 minutes, when the recommended time is 60 minutes.

At Hospital Santa Maria, the average waiting time was 7 hours and 53 minutes, with 23 people wearing a yellow bracelet at the central emergency service at that time, while at the general emergency service at Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, in Loures, 45 people were waiting with yellow bracelet, with a waiting time of 13 hours and 47 minutes.
(...)

Cases of Influenza A put even more pressure on emergency services

Cases of Influenza A are increasing and putting even more pressure on emergencies. At Santa Maria Hospital, in Lisbon, patients wait up to eight hours in the general emergency room. A manager at the country's largest hospital warns that the situation is difficult and that resources are limited.

The green bracelet was placed on Paula Gonçalves and her daughter shortly after midnight. At 10:00am they had still not been treated. On Wednesday morning, the average waiting time in the general emergency department exceeded eight hours.

This Tuesday, the general emergency room at the Santa Maria hospital received 450 people, which represents a higher than normal influx caused, above all, by respiratory viruses. Demand for emergency services at Santa Maria Hospital has increased in recent weeks, but for now, the response is guaranteed.

Doctors ask people to protect themselves from viruses because the worst phase may not have arrived yet. This increase in attendance occurs at a time when there are 38 emergency services with constraints – many in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, which have Santa Maria Hospital as an alternative.

[Mike88]

Inflation drops to 1.4% in December but prices are set to strongly increase in January 2024, especially food prices with a 10% increase:

https://twitter.com/JornalNoticias/status/1740696063647031546

Inflation rate drops to 1.4% in December

In a statement, the National Statistics Institute (INE) states that "the main contribution” to the slowdown in the Consumer Price Index (IPC) recorded in December “comes from the behavior of food prices, which will have decreased by 0.6% compared to the previous month”.

The underlying inflation indicator (total index excluding unprocessed food and energy products) recorded a variation of 2.6% in December (compared to 2.9% in the previous month).

The variation in the index for energy products stood at -10.5% (-12.4% in the previous month), while the index for unprocessed food products decelerated to 2.0% (3.5% in November).

Compared to the previous month, the IPC variation was -0.5% (-0.3% in November and December 2022).

In the last 12 months, INE estimates an average variation of 4.3% (5.0% in the previous month), which compares to the average variation of 7.8% in 2022.
(...)

Prices of essential products will rise by more than 10% at the beginning of 2024

In a week's time, when you go to the supermarket, you will notice that the bill will be substantially more expensive. From the 5th, VAT will be reset on 46 essential products, which will translate into a direct increase of 6%. That alone would be enough for the price of the basic food basket to jump to the highest value ever. But the return of the tax will also be accompanied by a generalized update in the price of several products. All things considered, the same shopping list, monitored by Deco Proteste, will cost around €250, €20 more than this week.

“In most products, increases could be around 5%, which, added to the 6% VAT replacement, will translate into an increase of more than 10%. But there are products that will increase more. Olive oil, for example, could rise by more than 15%”, says the general director of the Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies (APED), which represents the main supermarket and hypermarket chains. Gonçalo Lobo Xavier explains that these stores have already received the new food industry price lists, “which reflect the rise in all production costs, inevitably imposing an increase in final prices”
(...)

[Mike88]

Shooting at a Lisbon suburb causes two dead and 5 injured:

https://twitter.com/cmjornal/status/1740890113364693289

Shooting at Monte da Caparica in Almada. Several people shot

Two people died and five were injured, one of them seriously, following clashes between groups in Monte da Caparica, in Almada, Observador confirmed with a source in the GNR general command.

The news of the contempt was reported by Correio da Manhã and confirmed by Observador. According to a source from the GNR general command, there are two deaths reported “as a result of gunshot wounds” and five injured, one of them in critical condition and the rest in stable condition.

The injured were taken to Garcia de Orta Hospital, in Almada. The same source was unable to specify whether there was an exchange of gunfire between those involved, but said that the origins were “disagreements between groups of individuals”, without specifying the reasons.

[CumbrianLefty]

"Clashes between groups" is rather vague isn't it.

[Mike88]

"Clashes between groups" is rather vague isn't it.

The number of injured rose to 7, according to the police. The two deadly victims are a couple, man and woman, seem to not be involved in the "clashes between groups" and were victims of stray bullets. The police is now investigating the case.

Earlier this week, there was another shooting in the same place, in which two young men were injured. This part of the Monte the Caparica area, in the south bank of the Tagus River, Almada city, is a very complicated one, with lot of drugs problems and poverty.

[CumbrianLefty]

So it is likely to be drugs related?

[Mike88]

So it is likely to be drugs related?

It may be the case, yes. Residents of the area, interviewed by the media, say that shootings are a regular thing in the neighborhood, as there are a lot of "clashes" between rival gangs.

[Red Velvet]

So, checked in Portuguese twitter to see how the right-wing nationalist youth was doing…

https://twitter.com/AfonsoJFG/status/1741808803429941667
https://twitter.com/AfonsoJFG/status/1667878827106738179
This twink reminds me so much of Nikolas Ferreira here. It also seems he purposely talks with a weird voice to get attention. We truly are brothers from different continents when even our trash is so similar.

The boy apparently leads a movement called “Reconquista” which describes itself as nationalist and traditionalist. Its biggest agenda by their website seems to be Anti-Immigration, as they associate it to the absurd housing prices in Portugal nowadays preventing the youth to start their lives.

They especially target Brazilian immigrants using racist tropes like “Violence” based on crime numbers that aren’t even from Portugal, but general domestic numbers from Brazil??? Lmao

I find it interesting to notice how these groups appropriate left-wing narratives though (“Housing Prices are too high!”) as a cheap scapegoat for their agenda though. Another interesting thing is that the group describes itself as “Identitary”, which is the first time I see racists actually being not just honest, but proud about their politics being Identity Politics too.

It’s funny because in USA, the right-wingers associate Identity Politics to wokeism instead and don’t even realize they’re acting identitary in their agenda.

Portugal is a small country and nearly 10% of it is composed of immigrants so I’m not really surprised that a far-right backlash would come sooner or later. And since Brazilians are the largest immigrant group, it’s a no-brainer they would become main scapegoat, even though these kids have no problem with their (and mine too) ancestors coming in droves to live here even after Brazilian independence.

However, this “nationalist” movement is bound to self-hate cultural erasure if they discriminate people who were born into a Luso background in the name of the protection of an “European and Western Tradition” that’s waaaaaaay more internationalist and globalist in how Portugal is forced to abdicate much of its national identity and sovereignty in exchange of a larger Western identity where kids start speaking more English than actual Portuguese lol.

We need to start differentiating “real nationalists” from “white nationalists”.

[Mike88]

Identity Politics are one of those things that, for now, has zero impact in Portugal. In fact, if you ask an ordinary person on the street about Identity Politics, the response would certainly be "My Identity what?".

Also, never heard of that movement or that twitter account in particular, as the "twitterverse" in Portugal is a complete bubble and with no conection with the real world. The argument that the housing crisis is to blame on foreigners, the far-right seems to blame "immigrants" while the left-wing blames "foreign investors", is just a lame excuse and made by people who just don't know what they are talking about. The roots of the housing crisis are much deeper and are a consequence of a century of bad government planning and strategy.