Madeleine McCann disappearance: Police to search Algarve dam // Calls for minister to resign after hearings probe firing saga
Portuguese news in English on Monday, May 22, 2023.
Madeleine McCann disappearance: Police to search Algarve dam
Police investigating the disappearance of English girl Madeleine McCann are about to launch a search in Portugal’s south, Lusa reports. On Tuesday, the Policia Judiciária (criminal investigation police) will start probing the Arade dam, a roughly 50-kilometre drive from where Maddie went missing in May 2007. Officers spent part of Monday morning marking out a perimeter and setting up tents in the area in preparation for the searches, SIC reports. Christian Brueckner, the convicted rapist German prosecutors have pinned as the main suspect in the toddler’s disappearance without formally charging him, reportedly used to frequent the area. He is currently serving a seven-year sentence for raping an elderly woman in Portugal in 2005 and has been named as a formal suspect in Portugal but denied any involvement.
Calls for minister to resign after hearings probe firing saga
Calls for the resignation of Infrastructure Minister João Galamba have come from parties to the left and right of the governing Socialist Party (PS) following a hectic week of parliamentary hearings, Diário de Notícias reports. Last week, both Galamba and the former adviser he fired — kicking off a furious round of he-said-she-said that has dominated the hearings — fronted the parliamentary commission of inquiry into the management of TAP. Galamba insisted that he did not lie to the country, try to hide information from the inquiry or threaten his former employee Frederico Pinheiro, insisting that in fact it was Pinheiro who did the threatening, Público reports. In an apparent effort to discredit Pinheiro, he accused him of going to the office at “inappropriate hours” and making “lots of photocopies”. Pinheiro, for his part, denied taking his work computer after being fired was theft and rejected claims he had broken glass with a bicycle or attacked his colleagues during the incident, Público reports. On Friday, after the hearings had finished for the week, Pinheiro gave an interview in which he said he was considering whether or not to sue Costa and Galamba, who he accused of having “publicly defamed” him, Público reports.
That’s really only scratching the surface of this story. You can read last week’s newsletter or the one from the week before for more background or check out this video from TLDR News EU, in English, for an account of the whole saga dating right back to last year — just bare in mind that President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa didn’t detonate the “atomic bomb” of dissolving parliament. Marcelo was set to comment on the situation late last week, announcing his availability to journalists, before cancelling at the last minute due to a lack of time, Público reports.
Vatican pulls Portugal stamp criticised for colonialism, propaganda
The Vatican has pulled a controversial stamp created to celebrate World Youth Day in Portugal from sale after widespread backlash, Lusa reports. The design, created by an Italian, features the Pope at the head of Lisbon’s Discoveries Monument, leading a bunch of children. It was meant to compare Dom Henrique’s leadership of his crew sailing to the new world and the pope steering young people to the Catholic church. But it was criticised online for its colonialist overtones and for looking like something the Estado Novo dictatorship’s propaganda department might have turned out. A World Youth Day spokesperson said the stamp was designed to promote the festivities and any other readings of its design were unfair.
In brief
'People are really fired up': Digital nomads blamed for Portugal's high prices and housing crisis. Several researchers weigh in on the impact digital nomads are having on a country already dealing with a host of other economic problems. (Euronews, in English)
Students deny fired teacher spread pro-Russian propaganda in class. The University of Coimbra’s former Centre of Russian Studies director was sacked by email after Ukrainian activists wrote an opinion piece accusing him of spreading Russian propaganda. (Público)
Convenience stores allowed to sell tobacco after new laws kick in. Everywhere else where smoking is already banned will be blocked from selling cigarettes and other products in automatic machines. (Dinheiro Vivo)
Air passengers can claim €63 million in compensation this year alone. More than 150,000 passengers are eligible for compensation for flight delays or cancellations as the country’s airports hit a new first-quarter record of 13 million passengers. About a third of flights were late and 1150 were cancelled.
On a lighter note
Two “courageous lawyers” have been awarded for their fight to help a Portuguese mum get her kids back, Público reports. Back in 2012, seven of Liliana Melo’s children were taken away from her, not because they were being abused but essentially because the family was poor and disorganised. The mother-of-10 fronted court without a lawyer and was told to follow conditions such as getting her fallopian tubes tied and getting a job — with seven kids under seven — in order to prevent them from being put up for adoption. Maria Clotilde Almeida and Paula Penha Gonçalves fought the process over four long years of pro bono work. Eventually the woman’s children were returned to her and Portugal was condemned in the European Court of Human Rights for the initial decision.