AIMA workers threaten months-long strike amid backlog // Tourists vandalise famous Sintra cork tree for souvenirs
Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.
AIMA workers threaten months-long strike amid backlog
Immigration staff are threatening to strike until the end of the year in a demand for more workers, Diário de Notícias reports. The strike, from August 22 to December 31, covers overtime and work during compulsory rest days and public holidays at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum. Some workers had already done more than 150 hours without being paid in the stipulated time frame as professionals work extra hours and even weekends to respond to the backlog. The National Federation of Public and Social Sector Workers union delivered a strike warning with a list of 25 complaints, saying the situation at AIMA was “unacceptable” and was affecting workers’ health and rights.
The announcement left many immigrants still waiting for their documentation in panic, with more than 400,000 delayed processes still outstanding, Público reports. The situation is also chaotic for immigrants looking for other services, such as at the Loja de Cidadão (multi-purpose administration centre) in Laranjeiras, in Lisbon, where some sleep on the street hours before 8.30am opening time. Before 6am, some slept in cars and others on cardboard boxes while an improvised waiting list already had more than 20 names, Diário de Notícias noted in a report describing the situation.
Tourists vandalise famous Sintra cork tree for souvenirs
A conservation institute will work with the property owner to put up fencing around a monumental cork tree in Sintra that’s fallen victim to “acts of vandalism”, Público reports. In a recent letter to the mayor and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), Friends of the Trees of Sintra Group said it was common to see tour guides urging tourists to rip off pieces of the famous tree as souvenirs. The group urged the authorities to act to protect the so-called “sobreira dos fetos”, which is on private property next to Quinta do Relógio. According to the group, the tree has been classified as of public interest since 1996 and is estimated to be more than 300 years old. The ICNF said it would work with the owner to introduce measures to reduce the impact of nearby works on the tree, as well as fencing it off to avoid constant vandalism.
Price set to combat Portugal’s excess-wine crisis
Portugal has so much extra wine the government is paying to get rid of it. It will pay wine producers 42 cents a litre to send their excess stock for distillation in an attempt to address the continuing crisis, Diário de Notícias reports. The investment is helped by €15 million in European Union funding but not everybody is happy. In the Douro, producers will get 75c/L due to the higher production costs associated with the hilly terrain, and paid for in part by the Douro and Port Wines Institute. But the same won’t apply to other hilly regions such as Dão, Trás-os-Montes and Távora-Varosa.
In brief
Migrants struggle to cope with Portugal's 'suffocating' housing crisis. A major photojournalism feature examines a crisis rooted in a chronic shortage of affordable housing and aggravated by the arrival of wealthy foreigners. (Reuters, in English)
Babies to get free RSV immunisation from October. The first national campaign against the illness is open to babies born from August 1. They can receive the long-acting monoclonal antibody nirsevimab in SNS centres. (Público)
Coffee prices to rise as beans hit decade-long high. There were hopes at the start of the year that an “extraordinary” harvest could stabilise prices but now the question is not if the cost of coffee will rise but when. (Diário de Notícias)
Man, 74, allegedly tried to rape girl, 17, and woman, 22, before shooting them. The victims were seriously injured. National Guard officers arrested the man with a shotgun and airsoft rifle after he jumped into the Póvoa e Meadas dam, near the border with Spain in Castelo de Vide, where the alleged crimes occurred.
Average after-tax wage records biggest jump ever recorded. It’s due to income tax breaks delivered by the previous government, as well as an increase in politicians, bosses and other senior management. (Diário de Notícias)
On an Olympic note
Eurosport commentator Gerald de Kock summed it up: “It’s Leitão, it’s Oliveira and Portugal win the most mad of madisons you’re ever likely to see at the Olympic Games.” Honestly, this event would have been incredible to watch even if the Portuguese duo hadn’t come from the clouds to win the country’s first Olympic gold medal outside of athletics, and the only one of Paris 2024. For the uninitiated, the madison is a chaotic team race that kind of looks like NASCAR on bicycles and is all based on sprint points rather than times. There’s strategy, there are crashes and plenty of drama (much better explainer here from Eurosport) but most importantly – in this case, there was – Iúri Leitão and Rui Oliveira with gold medals around their neck.
It was Leitão’s second medal of the games, following a silver in the omnium. While he missed out on gold, he was hailed for his sportsmanship, having declined to sprint for points after his biggest rival, who eventually beat him, suffered a fall, Público reports. He said he wanted to see if the Frenchman was OK and that it would’ve been unfair to lose gold in that way. Portugal finished with one gold, two silver and one bronze to sit 50th on the medal tally.
On a lighter note
It’s almost time for what some call the largest outdoor showcase of gold in the world. If a massive party centred on traditional costumes and jewellery sounds like your idea of a good time then it might be worth checking out the Romaria de Nossa Senhora d’Agonia, starting this week. About 1000 Minho women are expected to take part in the massive event and my partner (and sub-editor) Daniela Sunde-Brown has a big writeup on everything you need to know. The Festas d’Agonia run from August 14 to 22 and feature far too many and varied events for me to list here.