Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
Historic blackout hits Portugal and Spain
On April 28, power went down across the Iberian Peninsula, causing disruptions to transport, communications, and businesses across Portugal and Spain.
In Lisbon, the blackout lasted about 10 hours and caused the metro, trains, and trams to shut down across the city.
While most offices, schools, and businesses closed, others — especially bars and cafes — continued to operate.
Some workers enjoyed the unexpected day off, while others were left scrambling to collect children from school or find a way home without their usual transport.
The cause of the blackout is still being investigated by authorities in Portugal and Spain.
Many media outlets were quick to blame renewables for the loss of power, but Beatriz Corredor, the head of Spain’s grid operator REE, said that was the wrong approach, Reuters reports.
“These technologies are already stable, and they have systems that allow them to operate as a conventional generation system without any safety issues,” she said, according to Reuters.
On Friday, REN (Redes Energéticas Nacionais, REN), which operates the Portuguese national transmission grid, confirmed that electricity imports from Spain would remain suspended until at least May 4, Público reports.
You can read more about how Lisbon was affected by the blackout here, and see some highlights from the night here.
The Portuguese government will ask 18,000 immigrants to leave
Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro announced that the government will ask around 18,000 people living in Portugal without authorization to leave, the Associated Press reports.
This comes in the runup to a general election on May 18, which was called after a vote of no confidence led to the collapse of the current center-right government.
The expulsion will start this week, with officials asking some 4,500 foreigners to voluntarily leave within 20 days, the Associated Press reports.
Short-term rental ban extended in Lisbon
A ban on new alojamentos local (AL)— short-term holiday rentals — that began last November has been extended for a further six months, Público reports.
The temporary ban is in place while new municipal regulations on AL are finalized.
The new regulation would be more restrictive of new licences, including limits based on ratios between ALs and family homes at the city, freguesia (parish), and neighborhood levels.
Lisbon currently has an AL ratio of 7.2%, but some areas have considerably higher concentrations, such as Santa Maria Maior, which includes Alfama, Mouraria, Baixa, Castelo, and Chiado, where 68.8% of the homes are short-term rentals.
The number of babies born to foreign mothers doubles in a decade
In 2024, a third of the babies born in Portugal were born to foreign mothers, according to the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estatística, INE) reported by Público.
Of the 84,642 babies born last year, 33% had a mother born abroad, up from 29.3% in 2023.
In some areas, such as Lisbon and the Algarve, foreign mothers accounted for almost half of all births.
The total number of births in Portugal fell by 1,057 from 2023 to 2024, and the infant mortality rate went from 2.5 to 3 deaths per 1,000 during the same period.
Portugal’s economy slows in the first quarter
Between January and March 2025, Portugal’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 1.6% compared with the same period last year, but dropped 0.5% compared with the end of 2024, Público reports.
If the next quarter (April to June) also shows a drop, Portugal will technically enter a recession, the publication writes.
Eurozone growth was 1.2% year-on-year and 0.4% compared with the last quarter of 2024.
This unexpected positive growth is expected to stop because of the trade war triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to a note from the BPI Economic and Financial Studies Department, Público reports.
