Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
Portugal is going to the polls, again
A legislative election has been announced for May 18, with parties due to present candidates by April 7.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced the legislative elections after a vote of no confidence led to the collapse of the current center-right government.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro submitted himself to the vote after two failed censure motions amid an alleged conflict-of-interest scandal around his family’s company. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing.
When announcing the snap election, which will be the third in as many years, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warned against populist and extremist trends, saying: “Do not open the door even wider to experiments that we know how they start and we know how they end.”
Consultation on Alojomento Local ban
A consultation is open on new regulations that would limit the number of short-term holiday rentals (alojamento local, AL) in Lisbon neighborhoods, Público reports.
The proposed legislation takes into account the ratio of the number of AL accommodations to the number of family homes, with a maximum ratio difference of 5%.
Several Lisbon neighborhoods already exceed this limit, which in theory would result in a total ban on any new AL licenses under the new law. These include Santa Maria Maior (68.8%), which covers popular locations like Baixa, Rossio, Alfama, and Castelo, and Misericórdia (44.9%), which covers Bairro Alto, Principe Real, and Cais do Sodré.
Locations with a ratio between 2.5% and 5% — such as Parque das Nações (3.7%) and Campolide (2.7%) — will be subject to “relative containment” under the proposed law.
It is currently not possible to open any new AL accommodation in Lisbon due to a six-month suspension on new licenses ahead of new legislation.
Five hospitals to become public-private partnerships
Hospitals in Loures, Amadora-Sintra, Vila Franca de Xira, Almada, and Braga will become public-private partnership (PPPs) in what Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro described as a “historic decision,” Expresso reports.
PPPs allow private investment in government projects. Leitão Amaro said PPPs have delivered better services at a lower cost to taxpayers, and that the decision would strengthen the country’s healthcare.
Critics, such as Bloco de Esquerda, argue that PPPs don’t provide the services or savings they claim.
The first PPPs in Portuguese healthcare were in 1995, with all but one returning to public control.
The tenders for these five hospitals are not expected until 2026.
Total communications complaints drop, postal complaints rise, in 2024
ANACOM, the national communications authority, announced that the total number of complaints against communications service providers decreased by about 3% in 2024.
However, the number of complaints about postal services increased by 12% to 41.8 thousand – and made up 40% of all complaints.
The lack of home delivery attempts topped the list of postal complaints, and CTT was the most-complained about operator. They accounted for about 81% of all postal complaints.
Around 60% of all communications complaints relate to electronic communications – i.e., phone providers. NOS topped the list with about 37% of complaints, followed by Vodafone (34%) and MEO (26%).
Investigation into immigration false-address scheme
At least 17 parishes in Lisbon have identified cases of fraudulent address declarations by people seeking residency certificates, Expresso reports.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has over 40 investigations open, and the Polícia Judiciária are looking into 15 alleged illegal immigration networks and 444 specific cases, according to Expresso.
The fraud involves residents being paid to list immigrants as living at their property when they don’t. Witnesses are also paid to attest to this.
Some properties were found to have dozens or even hundreds of people registered, with two houses having more than 4,000 residents listed, according to the paper.
