No passenger limits on planes from June, and a guide to the return of summer tourism
English language coronavirus news in Portugal on May 22, 2020.
Sorry today’s edition is a little later than usual. It’s been a busy couple of days. Have a great weekend and I’ll speak to you again on Monday!
We’ve passed the 30,000 case mark but today’s only major statistical change comes in the one place big changes are good news: recoveries. With today’s massive boost we have more recoveries than new cases for the week, which is great news because it means the number of active cases (people still sick) is falling. This number has been notoriously unpredictable throughout the pandemic as various individual institutions place more or less priority on updating the figures. New confirmed cases and deaths continue to grow at a steady pace almost unchanged since Monday.
No passenger limits on planes from June
Planes will again be able to fly without occupation limits from June 1, Diário de Notícias reports. The Portuguese government is set to revoke legislation restricting flights to two-thirds of capacity to line up with European rules. Announcing the change, Infrastructure and Housing Minister Pedro Nuno Dos Santos said proposals to combat the pandemic in the airline sector had been studied internationally and capacity limits weren’t part of the recommendations. Plane passengers must continue to wear masks.
A guide to the return of summer tourism
If all that talk about flying has got you thinking about summer holidays, Público has you covered. There is a lot still to figure out as countries move back towards the freedom of movement normally guaranteed in the Schengen zone (much of Europe). At the start of May, the European Union asked states to extend the general restriction on non-essential international travel until June 15, but the steps after that are unclear. The EU is pushing for a coordinated approach but Público notes the situation - both in terms of the pandemic and summer holiday plans - varies widely from country to country. The article details the latest from more than a dozen different countries so I’d encourage you to feed it through your translator of choice if you’re interested. In a similar vein, Foreign Affairs Minister Augusto Santos Silva tells Observador “tourists are welcome” in Portugal, so long as they comply with “minimum sanitary controls”, which won’t include a mandatory quarantine
Italy will reopen its doors to EU citizens from June 3, according to Público. Photo: Jorge Branco.
Artists fighting for survival, and the future of their industries
With no work, little money and days full of “suffocating uncertainty”, Portugal’s artists are struggling, Público reports. But a movement is growing as workers from across the arts unite to fight for the “present and future” of the nation’s cultural ecosystem and claim vindication for their work. Paralysation from the pandemic has stripped bare the precariousness and fragility of many artists’ existence, pushing them to the limit of survival, without money to put food on the table, the journalist writes. The problem is not just a “lack of strategic vision” from the Culture Minister, Graça Fonseca, and the chronic underfunding of the Ministry of Culture but also the lack of labor laws to protect the community, the artists say. Actress Nádia Yracema says she’s living with “chills”, not knowing when she’ll have more than 37 cents in her bank account and seeing so many people in a similar situation. But she says it seems like the creative arts industry is “finally ready for the fight”. The government will open a €30 million credit line to help councils program cultural activities, Público reports.
In brief
Beaches can be shut if they're overcrowded 'one, two, three days in a row' (Público). The law doesn’t impose an absolute ban on going to full beaches (from June 6) but does give authorities the ability to shut problem spots.
Hundreds of marine authority workers will be watching the beaches this weekend (Público), with temperatures expected to hit 36 degrees in Faro.
Universities trying to avoid fraud and failure in remote exams. Camaras kept switched on, blocked browsers and oral evaluations are just some of the measures on the way.
Portugal’s top football league to lose NOS sponsorship worth €6 million a year, from 2021
On a lighter note
The pandemic wrecked pretty much everything planned for March, April and much of May, but some bright spots are starting to emerge in June. The blockbuster Meet Vincent Van Gogh exhibition is reopening at Terreiro das Missas from June 3, according to Time Out. Of course, there will be a bunch of hygiene measures in place, including the mandatory wearing of masks and sterilisation of any “touch” surfaces after every group passes through. Time Out also points out the extremely epic Monument to the Discoveries at Belém is set to reopen from May 25. It’s probably your only chance to visit the thing without a swarm of tourists and in even better news, it will be free until May 31.
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