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

Millions of euros poured into Portuguese anti-choice, “anti-gender” groups since 2019

Over one billion euros have been injected into European anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ organizations from outside benefactors – including over €3.3 million in Portugal – between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from the European Parliament Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF). 

The list of funding sources includes conservative lobbying groups, media organizations, think tanks, and others, with 27% of funding coming from non-European countries.

Among the notable beneficiaries in Portugal is Vida Norte, an organization which includes in its objectives “the defense of life from the moment of conception until natural death.” Vida Norte received €1.5 million from various sources during the period studied. 

Chega prepares for rightward push in upcoming local elections

Local elections will be held across Portugal in October, and the mayoral nominations are already piling up. 

Of the 28 sitting members of Parliament who have officially announced mayoral candidacies, 21 – or 75% – are from the Chega camp. 

At least 89 current mayors will reach their term limit in October according to Público, 50 of whom are members of the center-left Socialist Party (Partido Socialista, PS), which suffered historical defeats in May’s parliamentary elections and was replaced by Chega as the second-largest party in parliament. 

Although Chega failed to secure any mayoral seats in the 2021 local elections, the party’s recent gains in municipalities like Sintra could see this change.

40% of Portuguese nationalities in 2023 claimed by Israelis, 60% of all new nationals live abroad

Roughly 41,363 foreigners were granted Portuguese citizenship in 2023, over 24,000 of whom don’t actually live in Portugal, according to new reporting from Expresso. 

Some 40% of newly minted Portuguese nationals are Israeli, followed by Brazilians, who account for 23.5% of the total.

 Immigrants from Southeast Asia make up only 7% (2,795) of new citizens, despite being one of the minority groups to receive the most ire in recent years.

The large number of passports given to Israelis can be accounted for by legislation passed in 2013 that allowed the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Portugal during the 15th century to acquire Portuguese citizenship, as a form of reparations. 

The Portuguese government’s newly proposed changes to nationality legislation would, if passed, put an end to this and many other paths to citizenship.

Diogo Jota, Portuguese football star, dies at 28

Beloved Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota, 28, and his brother André Silva, 25, died in a car crash in Spain last Thursday, sending millions into mourning. 

A player for Liverpool and the Portuguese national team, Jota had married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso barely two weeks before his sudden passing. 

Jota was a point of immense pride for Portugal and enjoyed significant popularity internationally, especially amongst Liverpool fans, the team he helped lead to victory in the Premier League in May. 

Loures residents forced to sleep without shelter after house demolitions

The Loures City Council demolished 25 self-built shelters in the Talude Militar neighborhood last Monday, leaving 36 people without shelter, including nine children and four seniors, according to Público. 

Residents were notified of the demolitions on Friday (June 27) afternoon and given 48 hours to vacate the buildings. 

Housing rights organization Vida Justa denounced the lack of social support provided to the affected families, pointing out that many residents have remained in the neighborhood to sleep outside, while the children have been taken in by other residents whose homes remain standing.