Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
New “foreigners’ law” could mean big changes to immigration
The new “foreigners’ law” was approved last Wednesday thanks to votes by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), People’s Party (CDS), and Chega, Público reports.
If enacted, the new law would require immigrants to get a work visa from the Portuguese consulate in their country of origin before arriving.
Job-seeking visas, which have been a popular path to residency in Portugal, will be reserved for “highly qualified immigrants,” and those with golden visas will also be exempt, Público writes.
The job-seeking visa currently has no professional qualification requirements and offers a single-entry visit to Portugal to look for work for up to four months, with a possible two-month extension.
If a person secures employment, they can apply for residency; otherwise, they must return to their country of origin.
The new law would also impose a two-year minimum before reunification requests for adult family members.
All left-wing parties voted against the new law, while the Liberal Initiative abstained, Público writes.
The law is now with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who must approve it before it comes into force.
A group of immigrant associations and the Livre party have requested urgent meetings with the President to address serious concerns with the law, according to Público.
André Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega party, has also requested an audience with Rebelo de Sousa to lobby for the law’s enactment.
The meetings are expected to take place this week.
Parliament also voted through the creation of a “mini-SEF” (Unidade de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras), Público reports.
Immigrant children aren’t given priority at school
The National Federation of Teachers (Federação Nacional dos Professores, FENPROF), has condemned statements made by Ventura, later repeated online by deputy Rita Matias, that “gave the impression” that immigrant children had priority school places, Observador reports.
Ventura had read out a list of immigrant children’s names in parliament, giving the impression that they had preferential treatment over children of Portuguese nationality, the publication writes.
In a statement, FENPROF, the largest teachers’ union, categorically denied the implication, saying, “The accusation of privileged access by immigrant children or descendants of immigrants is false.”
“Hate speech and racism are unacceptable, and that the House of Democracy cannot be the stage for these episodes, much less legitimize them,” FENPROF said.
Almost 500 “Green Route” visas requested for agriculture and construction
Between April and July, the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal, CAP) and the Association of Civil Construction and Public Works Industrialists (Associação dos Industriais da Construção Civil e Obras Públicas, AICCOPN) requested to recruit 493 immigrants under the “Via Verde” scheme, Diário de Notícias reports.
The “Green Route for Recruitment” has been in force since April 15 and aims to streamline the hiring of foreign citizens with employment contracts in Portugal.
According to CAP, 380 of the requests are for agriculture and 113 for construction, which currently has a labor shortage of approximately 80,000 to 90,000 workers.
The “green route” requires employers to offer a valid employment contract, the opportunity for professional training and to learn Portuguese, and access to adequate accommodation.
These accommodation requirements appear to be hindering requests from the Tourism and Commerce and Services sectors, according to CAP.
Demolition of “shacks” in Loures draws condemnation
Last week, the Loures municipality, under a Socialist Party mayor, began an operation to demolish 64 “precarious homes,” housing 161 people, in Talude Militar, Público reports.
A temporary injunction has stopped the demolitions, which Socialist Party members have condemned in an open letter.
The signatories, who include MPs, said the demolitions without the guarantee of immediate and adequate alternative housing “tarnishes the credibility and ethical commitment” of the Socialist Party, Público reports.
“We witnessed with displeasure the demolition of the roofs of dozens of families, authorized by Socialist Party mayors, without any prior protection for these families, forced into homelessness,” the letter said, Público reports.
Loures City Council said in a statement that there has been an “accelerated and uncontrolled growth” of “irregular buildings” on Talude Militar, with 152 more shacks built in July alone.
The council said that occupants of newly identified constructions are “immediately alerted to the illegal situation” and advised to contact the city’s social services to learn about available support.
The council also said that “all families occupying the precarious buildings now demolished on Talude Militar were contacted, monitored, and provided with concrete solutions tailored to their situation.
“The decision to spend the night there was solely due to their refusal or non-compliance with the responses provided by the municipality.”
In response to the demolitions, social organization Vida Justa has helped organize clean-ups and support.
Portuguese Environment Agency cracks down on illegally occupied beaches
The Portuguese Environment Agency (Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, APA) inspected 22 beaches along 45 km of coast following an investigation by the newspaper Expresso into access being blocked, Portugal resident reports.
The focus was between Tróia and Melides, where they found 10 beaches not fully open to the public, including two that asked for identification to access them.
Beaches in Portugal are public by law and can’t be blocked by private businesses.
APA has now corrected the situation of the two beaches demanding identification, according to Expresso, but those with “conditional” access due to resorts or construction will only be rectified next year.
