The Week em Breve Apr 7 to Apr 13

Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.  

Housing prices in Portugal rose significantly faster than EU average in 2024, continuing decade-long trend

Housing prices in Portugal rose 9.1% from 2023 to 2024, nearly three times faster than the European Union average of 3.3%, according to new Eurostat data as reported by Público, marking the sixth-largest increase in the EU last year. Rental prices in Portugal also saw a dramatic hike of 7% last year, compared to the EU average of 3.1%, or 2.9% when considering only countries in the Eurozone. 

Portugal’s above-average price increases in 2024 mark the continuation of a trend that has been apparent since 2015, with the country exceeding EU averages by varying degrees of extremity every year. The numbers have looked particularly volatile in the post-Covid era. After a 10-year-high increase of 12.9% in 2022, compared to a 7.8% EU average, Portugal managed a slight correction in 2023, recording only an 8.2% rise, although it paled in comparison to the 0.3% fall seen in the rest of the European Union as a whole.

Trump administration sends “intolerable” questionnaires to Portuguese universities, severs ties with Lisbon technical university

Several Portuguese universities have received questionnaires from the United States government in recent weeks, inquiring about the institutions’ relationships with China, Iran, and other traditional American enemies, possible ties to terrorist organizations or “groups that promote mass migration,” and going so far as to ask what the universities are doing “to protect women from gender ideologies.” All of the universities who received the questionnaire receive support from the U.S. in the form of “American Corners,” a program funded by the U.S. that includes lectures and activities with the goal of promoting cultural and scientific cooperation. University administrators confirmed to Público last week that the questionnaires were sent with a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, declaring that failure to answer the questions would result in the “unilateral termination of current subsidies” for the respective universities.

Rogério Colaço, president of Lisbon’s Higher Technical Institute (Instituto Superior Técnico, IST), said that the U.S. notified his organization of the immediate cancellation of its American Corner on the same day that the questionnaire was sent. Other universities said that they do not intend on answering the questionnaires, but no other American Corner closures have been confirmed as of press time.

Nearly 400 Portuguese deported from foreign countries in 2024, over 2,000 in last six years

New data in the upcoming Annual Internal Security Report (Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna, RASI) shows that 387 Portuguese were deported from foreign countries in 2024, an increase of 44% from the 276 deportations recorded in 2023. The majority of deportations last year were from other European countries on the grounds of criminal offense. 

Outside of Europe, many of the deportations resulted from illegal residence, particularly in the U.S. and Canada, which deported 50 and 30 Portuguese nationals, respectively. 

Despite the dramatic increase, outgoing Secretary of State for Communities José Cesário still regards the phenomenon as trivial, considering the millions of Portuguese nationals that live and work in foreign countries: “Generally speaking, the Portuguese are not problematic. The number continues to be perfectly residual and without any statistical relevance.”

Several beaches closed after oil spill in the Tejo

Over 400 liters of oil spilled into the Tejo river last Monday during a refuelling operation involving two commercial ships, one Portuguese and one Dutch, forcing municipal authorities in Oeiras to close a number of beaches to the public “for an indefinite period.” Following an announcement the next day from the Lisbon Port Authority confirming that the spill had been contained, the  beaches of Torre, Caxias, Santo Amaro, and Paço de Arcos remained closed until Friday, when Oeiras City Council confirmed that all water quality tests had been concluded and the beaches were safe to reopen.