Push for referendum on holiday rentals hits key milestone // Carris strike ‘heavily’ affecting Lisbon transport
Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
Push for referendum on holiday rentals hits key milestone
A grassroots movement has collected enough signatures to push ahead with a referendum on Alojamento Local (short-term holiday rentals such as Airbnb) in Lisbon, Público reports. If all goes to plan, the group Referendo pela Habitação (Referendum on Housing) expects a vote in “spring 2025” but admits that given it would be Lisbon’s first local referendum there could be a lot of unexpected hurdles. The two suggested questions relate to the cancellation of AL licences in residential buildings within 180 days of the vote and a ban on such licences going forward. Lisbon City Council’s elected officials and the Constitutional Court would both need to approve the questions. The organisation has been working since 2022 (and pushing seriously since November 2023) to gather the 5000 signatures from local residents necessary to trigger the mechanism but plans to keep working throughout summer to hit the 7500 maximum, including at a major Casa para Viver housing rally on September 28.
More than 60% of housing in the Santa Maria Maior district, which includes Castelo and Alfama, is used for short-term rentals, Reuters reports, in English, citing Referendo pela Habitação and other studies. "Lisbon has stopped being a city and became an amusement park," Castelo resident Rosa Santos, 60, told the wire service. "I want to have neighbours: young, old, immigrants, foreigners … but people who actually live here.”
Carris strikes ‘heavily’ affecting Lisbon transport
Public transport in Lisbon is being “heavily” affected by a partial strike by Carris workers this week, the union responsible told Lusa yesterday morning. The road and urban transport workers union (STRUP) said workers were striking for the first two and last two hours of their shift from yesterday until Friday. The action followed a 24-hour stoppage with 90% participation on Friday but neither Carris nor the union could provide an estimate yesterday. The workers are calling for a real wage increase, 35 hours of service a week and an update to the meal supplement, among other demands.
Bizarre Facebook problem, strikes and machine problems for CP
Portugal’s train company is considering taking legal action against Facebook owner Meta over a warning blocking searches on the social network since February, Público reports. The problem lies in the initials, which predators use to search for child pornography in English. That means when commuters try to find the company on Facebook, they instead land on a page warning “Child sexual abuse is illegal”, even if they search the full name, “CP – Comboios de Portugal”. CP has complained to Meta multiple times through chat, letters and phone calls in which it described the damage being caused to the business but nothing has been done so it’s considering taking legal action to force Meta to make a change. You can still find the Facebook page through Google.
In another problem affecting the company, 103 of the 311 new ticket machines installed in the greater Lisbon area only accept bank cards, Dinheiro Vivo reports. That wouldn’t normally be a huge problem in 2024, except that the company is waiting for the card readers to be certified, rendering the machines effectively useless. In a third blow for the company, some workers will strike on July 22 and 24, Lusa reported earlier this month. It’s not clear what effect that will have on services.
Three European forests emit more carbon than they absorb
A Portuguese forest is one of three in Europe emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, Público reports. The forests of central Portugal, Les Landes in France and Harz in Germany are all failing in one of the most essential functions of a forest, for various reasons. In Portugal, the problem, essentially, is forest fires. While most years the forest absorbs more than it emits, that all goes out the window when devastating fires hit, such as in 2017 when dozens died in Pedrogão Grande. The forestry emitted more than 20,000 kilotons of CO2 equivalent, more than twice the amount absorbed in even the best years. Those fires have been blamed on a failure to properly manage the forestry, as well as the proliferation of a eucalyptus monoculture. The French forest has also suffered from fires while in Germany, Harz is a scene of dead trees and devastation after years of drought and a scarab plague.
In brief
Probe into former Portuguese PM ongoing, says attorney general. Lisbon's Court of Appeal said there was no strong evidence of wrongdoing, but the AG said the probe that caused António Costa to resign was continuing and she didn’t know when it would be completed. (Reuters, in English)
Delays put Lisbon airport among worst in world. AirHelp evaluated 239 airports in its annual report. Lisbon ranked 234th, Faro was 185th and Porto fared best nationally in 117th. Doha topped the list while Gatwick and Tunis were both ranked even lower than the Portuguese capital. (Diário de Notícias)
Immigration delays generate second most complaints to ombudsman. Only Social Security (27%) generated more complaints last year than those related to documents granting the right to stay in the country. (Diário de Notícias)
Poll shows higher confidence in PM than president for first time. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s popularity remained in the red with 53% negative and 37% positive. One-third of those surveyed said they had more confidence in Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, versus 27% for the president. (Diário de Notícias)
This year's COVID-19 vaccine to include sub-variants that caused latest wave. Kp.1, Kp.2 and Kp.3 caused a rapid increase in cases and deaths here in May. The next vaccination campaign will start in September with those sub-variants and their parent, JN.1, all targeted. (Diário de Notícias)
On a lighter note
We may have lost Bobby (briefly the world’s oldest dog, kind of) but Portugal is eyeing off another record. The University of Lisbon’s Instituto Superior Técnico is chasing the Guinness World Record for the largest computer programming lesson. The plan is to gather 1600 students in the Técnico Innovation Centre on October 12. Any higher education student in the country is eligible to sign up, regardless of course or institution. The aim is to attract a diverse group of people, but it’s hoped at least half of the students will come from IST and half will be female. You can read more in English here and follow a link to sign up.