Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
Six emergency departments forced to close on Saturday, five on Sunday
Numerous emergency departments across the greater Lisbon area were forced to suspend services this weekend, marking the second weekend in a row of such closures due to staff shortages. According to representatives of two separate doctors’ unions interviewed by Público, the closure of these departments — obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics — will become a continuing recurrence across the entire public health system, as long as the underlying causes of hospital staff shortages remain unaddressed.
For Joana Bordalo e Sá, head of the National Federation of Doctors (Federação Nacional dos Médicos – FNAM), outgoing health minister Ana Paula Martins has done little to alleviate the situation, and “instead of finding solutions, they tried to make up for this lack of doctors by using telephone lines, which did not resolve the situation at all.”
Number of Americans living in Portugal has increased sevenfold since 2017, up 50% since 2023
According to a new report released by Publico on Saturday, the Agency of Migration, Integration, and Asylum (Agência para a Integração Migrações e Asilo – AIMA) recorded 20,959 Americans residing in Portugal in 2024, an increase of almost 50% from the 14,126 recorded in 2023 – and 700% from the 1,888 recorded in 2017. Americans also applied for more digital nomad visas than any other nationality in 2023 and 2024, making up 22.4% and 21.2% of total applicants, respectively.
Tuk-tuks to fall under EMEL jurisdiction, new inspection task force created
From April 1 onwards, the Lisbon Municipal Mobility and Parking Company (Empresa Municipal de Mobilidade e Estacionamento de Lisboa – EMEL) will expand its mandate from simple parking violations to include the monitoring of the city’s tuk-tuks. New changes to the EMEL statutes will give the company’s officers the power to enforce Lisbon highway code, as well as new incoming regulations further restricting tuk-tuk operations. In light of these changes, EMEL also announced the formation of a new task force of 61 officers, while making it clear that all EMEL inspectors will be tasked with the expanded duties. Addressing the changes in a press release, Lisbon City Council vice president Filipe Anacoreta Correia stated, “The creation of this brigade reinforces EMEL as a company alongside the people of Lisbon and not against the people of Lisbon, as is sometimes unfairly perceived.”
Storm Martinho wreaks havoc across Portugal, over 10,000 incidents reported
Civil protection services across Portugal recorded over 10,000 incident reports following the arrival of storm Martinho last Wednesday evening. That night alone, 8,600 incidents were recorded, the majority of which occurred in the greater Lisbon area, including fallen trees, damaged buildings, around 50 small rural fires, and at least seven serious injuries. Wind speeds as fast as 169 kilometers per hour were recorded near Cabo da Roca, with gusts regularly surpassing 100 kilometers per hour further inland.
Dozens of pictures have popped up on social media, revealing the extent of the damage in Lisbon: smashed cars under fallen trees, traffic lights ripped from the ground, damaged train tracks, and widespread building damage, including major roof damage to the Atrium Saldanha shopping center. Additionally, some 50,000 residents were left without power for more than a day, primarily in Coimbra, Leiria, and Vila Real.
As of Monday, the storm seems to have passed, but experts warn the heavy rainfall has increased the river Tejo’s flow by more than 2,000 cubic meters, keeping the flood risk high through at least the beginning of the week.
Lisbon among top 10 European cities for MDMA consumption
Breaking news: Lisbon loves ecstasy. A recently published study conducted by the European Union Drugs Agency, based on the analysis of wastewater collected from 128 European cities between March and May of last year, indicates that Lisbon was the site of some of Europe’s highest rates of MDMA consumption per capita, along with central and northern European cities like Antwerp and Amsterdam.
