Flu surge puts pressure on hospitals // Why olive oil is suddenly so expensive
Portuguese news in English on Monday, January 8, 2024.
Flu surge puts pressure on hospitals
The flu has come back in force this winter, leaving people seriously ill and filling up hospital emergency rooms, Diário de Notícias reports. The first influenza A type A cases started appearing in October, sparking warnings from health professionals that vaccination coverage wasn’t high enough among those most at risk. That lack of coverage is now being felt in hospitals, where the majority of interned patients are unvaccinated, some of which are warning they’re struggling to manage beds. Free flu and COVID-19 vaccinations are available from health centres and many pharmacies for those over 60 or with certain health conditions, according to the National Medical System (SNS) hotline. Health Minister Manuel Pizarro yesterday called for everyone eligible to get vaccinated, stressing there were plenty of jabs available, Lusa reports.
Portugal was the only one of the 20 European countries on the EuroMOMO database with “very high” excess mortality in the last week of 2023, Diário de Notícias reports. Experts said the high level of respiratory infections appeared to be part of the problem but the exact cause still wasn’t known.
Why olive oil is suddenly so expensive
Olive oil, Portugal’s lifeblood, has soared in price, now going for €10, €11 or €12 a litre in supermarkets. CNN Portugal went to the Alentejo to find out why, and whether those prices are going to fall or rise further. Amid a wider storm of inflation, the price of azeite has increased 70% in a year. The short explanation is two years in a row of drought in Spain. The world’s biggest olive oil producer, with seven times the production area of Portugal, lost half its production and started buying from its neighbour. All the olive oil consumed here is less than half what’s produced but as a major exporter, the price is set by the international market.
The drought didn’t hurt Portuguese production thanks to the massive Alqueva dam, which, along with Spanish investors taking over about 30% of the territory, radically increased the density and productivity of the area, quadrupling production in 18 years. Modernised farming even improved the quality of Portuguese olives, although environmentalists criticise overproduction and the domination of monocultures. As for the price — of which producers are reaping the profits, as opposed to distributors — that all depends on the spring rain in Spain. If it’s wet, the price could drop to €7 or €8 a litre but if there’s more drought, it could hit €13.
President appeals to voters, new right-wing alliance forms
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has begun the year with an appeal for the Portuguese to make their votes count in a year where electors go to the polls for national, Azorean and European elections, Público reports. He left a message for the government, which was dissolved after Prime Minister António Costa’s resignation over the Operation Influencer investigation. Marcelo called for “effective access” to health, education and housing, saying democracy should be synonymous with less poverty, injustice, corruption and disillusionment among the youth. The outgoing PM refused to comment on the declarations the following day, Público reports. Instead he highlighted the “urgent need” to push ahead with a high-speed rail link between Lisbon and Porto immediately, before the elections.
Three right-wing parties have signed a coalition agreement in an attempt to defeat the governing Socialist Party (PS) at the upcoming elections, Público reports. The Democratic Alliance (Alliança Democratica - AD) combines the main opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD), CDS – People's Party (CDS-PP) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM). It is valid throughout the current “political cycle” until 2028. The text of the agreement calls for “political change” with a majority government that’s “ambitious, reformist, moderate, stable and majority”. The political group described itself as the only option to unseat PS, which it criticised for the housing crisis, degradation of the social welfare state and inability to implement reforms, among other complaints. The agreement would guarantee a return to parliament for CDS-PP, which formed part of the Passos Coelho government in the first half of the last decade but failed to elect any MPs in 2022.
On the other side of politics, the Left Bloc has proposed a deal with PS, in what would be a partial return to the “geringonça” government in power before Antônio Costa won a majority in 2022, Público reports.
In brief
Police force climate change protesters to strip. Female activists have detailed occasions when they say they were strip searched and their male colleagues were not. (Diário de Notícias)
Outgoing directors fear destruction of major Portuguese media company. The former heads of Jornal de Notícias, O Jogo, TSF and Dinheiro Vivo, who resigned in protest at a Global Media administration that owes two months’ wages to contractors and plans to sack 150 to 200 workers, addressed a parliamentary committee on the matter. The titles’ journalists plan to strike on January 10. (Público)
Massive rent increase forces historic Lisbon restaurant to close. Bota Alto, which is classified as a “Loja com História” and regularly played host to Portuguese music icon António Variações, couldn’t handle the jump from €1300 a month to €11,000. (Expresso)
Rich region, poor people: Tourism is the Algarve dream that excludes the majority. In a region stacked with luxury resorts, 11,000 kids live at risk of extreme poverty. There are 200,000 empty houses for tourists and 10,000 families in absolute need of somewhere to live. (Público)
Cocaine: The 'white avalanche' covering Europe. Portugal’s geography was always going to make it popular with drug traffickers but there’s another factor. The Netherlands and Belgium are spending millions to improve port security. In Lisbon, one of two scanners broke a year ago and the contract for a replacement still hasn’t gone out to tender. (Público)
More than a third of Alojamento Locais fail to hand in proof of activity. The failure is enough to have about 42,000 local accommodation licences cancelled but some councils, including Lisbon’s, could let it slide.
On a lighter note
I don’t usually link to British tabloids but I had to make an exception for this one. When the fastest driver in the world came to the Algarve for a holiday, a car rental company told him he was “too young” to hire one of their fastest cars, The Sun reports. Sixt apparently told Red Bull three-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen that driving a Mercedes AMG GT at 26 years old would breach its insurance policy. Verstappen and some friends had rented about 20 cars from the company to race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve racing circuit. “He’s a seasoned F1 driver who’s used to handling powerful cars, so it’s quite astonishing to think he wasn’t allowed to get behind the wheel of this one — but those are the rules, so he abided by them,” an unnamed source said.