‘Tornado’ in Lisbon as wild weather hits country // Immigration delays spark protests
Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
‘Tornado’ in Lisbon as wild weather hits country
Portugal’s weather bureau is working to confirm the details of a probable tornado seen above Lisbon’s Vasco de Gama Bridge, Público reports. The apparent tornado was filmed on Thursday as Storm Nelson hit the country, causing fallen trees, flooding and fallen structures in hundreds of incidents nationally and dumping snow on Terceira in the Azores. Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) meteorologist Alessandro Marraccini told Lusa it was very likely to have been a tornado. But he said it would take some days for the agency to fully analyse all the data and release a detailed report.
Emergency services said nationally almost 2900 operatives were sent to deal with almost 900 problems on Thursday alone, with greater Lisbon, Setúbal, the central coast, Coimbra and greater Porto the worst affected, Diário de Notícias reports. The vice president of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) warned the country needed to prepare for more frequent and severe storms such as this one, due to the effects of climate change, Diário de Notícias reports. José Carlos Pimenta Machado praised moves to build huge new drainage tunnels to alleviate Lisbon’s recurrent flooding issues and called for more green zones to help, while stressing the Algarve remained in its worst-ever drought.
Immigration delays spark protests
Dozens of immigrants have protested in front of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) headquarters in Lisbon in frustration at having their emails and phone calls ignored, Diário de Notícias reports. Pakistani truck driver Faraz Mujahid has been waiting three months for his residence card to be renewed and missed several job opportunities. “AIMA sends us to the Portuguese Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN), which tells us to talk to AIMA. No one solves anything, we’re lost,” he said in Portuguese, which he stressed he was making an effort to learn and perfect every day. Civil construction worker Garandeep Singh said he risked missing his own wedding in India by not being able to travel. Many of the other 50 or so protesters also showed DN emails they’d sent to both agencies stressing their status as taxpayers and lack of criminal history, and begging for help. Few received responses and those who did were told to speak to the other agency.
The government has ruled documents expired after November 15 last year are still valid until June 30 this year, Público reported in November, but that still raises potential problems for work and travel. A group of Brazilians from Braga staged a similar protest in Porto last week over delays in renewing their own Community of Portuguese Language Countries residency permits, Diário de Notícias reports. The responsibility for fixing the problems before the effective June 30 deadline now falls on the new Social Democratic Party (PSD) government, which opposed the replacement of SEF with AIMA and division of some of its powers.
Centre parties cooperate as new government formed
Prime Minister-designate Luís Montenegro has presented his new government to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Público reports. The PSD-CDS coalition faces instability in an incredibly tight parliament, with no one willing to risk betting on whether it will last until the end of its term or not.
That stability faced an early test with an impasse over who would be president of the Assembly of the Republic, Público reports. PSD’s José Pedro Aguiar-Branco was eventually elected at the fourth attempt thanks to an agreement between the centre-right PSD and centre-left Socialist Party (PS). He will be replaced by a PS MP in two years. The vote left far-right Chega isolated, after an earlier accord its leader, André Ventura, had announced with PSD fell over. That left Ventura rejecting any support for PSD and trying to claim the “opposition leader” mantle. PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos denied any suggestion of a “central bloc” and insisted he was still the face of the opposition.
In other politics news, Left Bloc’s Anabela Rodrigues, a prominent voice in the fight against racism, replaced Maria Matias to become the first Black Portuguese woman in the European parliament, Público reports.
In brief
New debate over return to mandatory military service. Army and Navy defence chiefs flagged the idea but, although there’s no consensus, political parties are generally leaning towards opposing the idea. (Público)
Renewables fulfill 89% of electricity consumption in first quarter. It’s the highest value since 1978, when hydroelectric power was still dominant before Portugal invested in gas and coal. (Expresso)
Europe in ‘pre-war era,’ warns Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk, citing Russia’s threat. The Polish prime minister warned the continent still had a long way to go before it was ready to confront the threat. (CNN, in English)
Just 5% of housing in Lisbon and 11% in Porto accessible to middle class. In Lisbon, 77% of dwellings cost more than €330,000, according to Century 21, which classed housing between €120,000 and €190,000 as middle-class-accessible. (Diário de Notícias)
Portugal orders Sam Altman's Worldcoin to halt data collection. The OpenAI CEO’s iris-scanning project claims to have already signed up 4.5 million people in 120 countries, in exchange for a digital ID and free cryptocurrency. (Reuters, in English)
Public prosecutors block development of Europe’s biggest solar farm. They’re claiming in court that the licence for the 1000-hectare development in the Alentejo, which would require destroying about 1.5 million trees, doesn’t comply with natural resources protection laws. (Público)
On a lighter note
How heavy do you like your red wine? If you answered, “As heavy as an Iron Maiden riff” (no judgments but honestly that’s kind of a weird response), then you’re in luck. The heavy metal giants’ frontman, Bruce Dickinson, has partnered with a Douro Valley company to release Iron Maiden Darkest Red 2021, Público reports. The blend of touriga nacional and tinta roriz, made by Van Zeller Wine Collection, was presented at a German wine fair last month and will be on sale at the band’s concerts and on its website. Dickinson, who also has a craft beer range popular in Brazil, met the people behind the wines at a talk he gave in Coimbra.