Sixteen hurt by drunk driver on bar street

A suspected drunk driver has been arrested after 16 people were hurt when he drove down a popular bar street in the Algarve, Público reports. Two National Guard (GNR) members were among those hurt in the incident on Albufeira’s “Rua dos Bares” (Avenida Doutor Francisco Sá Carneiro) just after 3am on Monday. The local health unit said a 21-year-old woman and another victim were seriously injured and remained in hospital in Portimão on Tuesday. Barriers and GNR officers reportedly twice stopped the 35-year-old Portuguese driver from entering the road before he made it through, hitting 12 people. Video of the incident shows the car hitting several people on the street as police can be heard firing warning shots into the air. The non-GNR victims were aged between 18 and 22 and reportedly included Portuguese and Scottish nationals.

Warning: Footage may be confronting.

The 35-year-old also hit another car and was said to have tried to run away on foot. He was arrested with a blood-alcohol level of 1.2g/L, high enough to be considered a crime, and expected to face court on Tuesday. He’s facing charges of causing bodily harm, drunk driving and dangerous driving.

Albufeira Mayor Rui Cristina called the incident an “isolated act” and denied security was lacking. “This year we had the Safe Night program, there was a reinforcement of resources from the municipality, that is, police reinforcement,” he said. “We have more policing than we had last year, we have the Red Cross on site, the firefighters, the security barriers”.

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Portuguese hacker to face trial for malicious ChatGPT clone

A young Portuguese man who started hacking at just 10 years old is set to stand trial for creating a malicious version of ChatGPT, Público reports. WormGPT was available on the deep web without any guardrails or ethical boundaries blocking users from carrying out illegal acts, such as generating a phishing email campaign. According to the newspaper, João (not his real name) didn’t see himself as a criminal and was motivated mostly by learning until other hackers started contacting him to create tools that would do more serious acts, like cloning credit cards. He decided to get rid of the program, sounding alarms at the FBI, which alerted the Criminal Investigation Police (PJ). They found a letter on his computer saying he’d sell it for €55,000.

Still living with his parents, he was arrested at the start of 2025 and released on bail with the condition he had no access to the internet, complicating his computer engineering studies, but the privilege was eventually restored. In court, the judge urged João, now 23, to use his brain for good and he’s been completely cooperative with the investigation. Admitting what he did led to the number of alleged crimes being reduced to three charges of computer sabotage. Authorities hope that he will help them identify the people that used the platform he built. Just in August 2023, 70 hackers from Australia, the US, South Africa, Singapore, Israel and other countries used WormGPT. A source linked to the investigation told Público João’s mum’s unemployment contributed to his decision to sell subscriptions to the program. It’s claimed he made €24,290.

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Home Affairs Minister Luís Neves has broken his silence to explain a series of controversies that have been hanging over him in recent weeks, Expresso reports. In a half-hour press conference on Wednesday, he admitted some mistakes but denied doing anything illegal. He started with the trailer with drums of chem…

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The government wants to create specialist judges to deal with immigration matters, while allowing people to sue the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) in their local area, Público reports. The announcement comes as more than 100,000 processes clog up the one Lisbon court through which the vast majority of lawsuits against the agency have been forced to come until now. The changes, approved by the Council of Ministers but yet to go before parliament, are part of a range of administrative and fiscal justice reforms the government had promised. Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice said the number of pending cases against immigration authorities started to increase significantly after the extinction of the Foreigners and Border Service (SEF) in 2023 and its replacement with AIMA. The latest data from April indicated there were 133,000 pending applications for injunctions to protect rights, liberties and guarantees, the standard legal instrument used to force AIMA to decide an immigration case within the legal timeframe. Júdice said the actions were being made en masse, creating a problem she described as “critical” and “urgent”.

Minister rejects constitutional concerns

Questioned over whether the changes risked being ruled unconstitutional, the minister stressed the government wanted to create specialised judges rather than specialised courts, which would have raised doubts. The union for migration workers said the judicial delays were down mostly to AIMA’s operational problems, which created unnecessary litigation due to delays and legally unsound decisions. Creating specialised judges would not correct the original problem of a lack of resources, organisation and career prospects for workers in the sector, the union argued. The next step for the proposal is debate and voting in parliament.

Immigration crackdown hurts construction sector

Meanwhile, the government’s efforts to curb migration are choking the labour supply for construction firms even as they work to alleviate one of Europe’s worst housing crises, Reuters reports, in English. “I did everything the authorities asked of me, and I’m here legally. But ‌the government changed the rules. I’m afraid they’ll send me back,” said José Simão, an Angolan bricklayer. Construction company executives and industry groups said the measures had worsened an acute worker shortage. “The government ​has restricted immigration too much and too quickly given the country’s needs,” University of Porto economics professor Óscar Afonso said. “It was ⁠a political choice, but immigrants are essential to the economy.”

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Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has thrown his support behind two different ministers as controversies over high school exam marking delays and allegations of favouritism swirl around the government, Público reports. He entered Thursday’s state of the nation debate amid calls for Education Minister Fernando Alexandre to resign over problems with the new digitalised marking system and Home Affairs Minister Luís Neves under fire for work carried out by a friend on his home in the Alentejo. Montenegro said he still had full confidence in both while denying the exam problems were “chaos” but admitting “not everything went well”. “Never has the process been so transparent”, nor has “rigor been so assured”, he said, insisting the digitalisation would “bring improvements”. The Socialist Party (PS) and Left Bloc (BE) led criticisms, calling on the minister to resign, while the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and CDS backed him again, accusing the opposition of blowing the issue out of proportion.

Students impacted as problems spread

Countless reports of unusual problems have been coming from students, teachers and officials, Expresso reports. That’s in addition to the widespread delays in getting their marks, which could affect university applications for some or at least impact whether or how they choose to study to sit an exam again. Several students reported exam marks wildly below what they could have expected and one school official said a student received an evaluation for a test they didn’t even sit. There’s also a likely error on the physics and chemistry A exam. There have been warnings of a possible record number of students requesting their exams to be remarked.

Next phase of exams goes ahead as normal but schools not confident

The minister fronted the media on Monday to apologise again, admitting not everything went well but insisting practically all the problems were solved, Público reports. Alexandre said the second phase of exams would go ahead as planned from Tuesday but created a new special period for September, with exact details still to be confirmed. The handling has left the school community with serious doubts.

National Association of Public School Principals president Filinto Lima said the minister was trying to “put out fires” and “minimise the damage”, describing the decision to go ahead with the normal schedule as “political” and “risky”. He said the jump from processing 20,000 philosophy exams under the digital system last year to 300,000 across all disciplines this year was “enormous” and should have been done more gradually. FENPROF teachers union secretary-general Francisco Gonçalves accused Alexandre of trying to make it seem as if this year’s exam process had been “almost normal” when it was unlike anything that had come before. He highlighted pressure and extra hours for markers, some of whom got the exams at the very last minute, errors on the marking platform and students getting back exams that weren’t theirs. He said he didn’t know a single marker who hadn’t received a blank or obviously incomplete test to mark. The Public School Mission (MSP) called on Monday for the Portuguese Bar Association to weigh in on whether students’ constitutional rights to equality and other principles had been breached.

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Residents of Almada, south of Lisbon, will have to wait another week or two for their water supply to return fully to normal as the government and council rush to fix major issues, Público reports. Frustration grew throughout last week as hours-long cuts to supply came without warning on multiple days, particularly in Costa da Caparica. About 1500 people protested the situation in front of the water supply officer last week and demanded Mayor Inês de Medeiros’s (PS) resignation. She and Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho (PSD) blamed an “unexpected” and “unforeseeable” increase in consumption. The problems, of which there were already symptoms last year, occurred following an intense heatwave in an area that normally gets busy in summer. The health minister said usage had increased to 400 litres per inhabitant, compared to the national average of 180, while the mayor said most of the increase did not come from ruptures in the water network. A situation of alert was declared on Wednesday as water was cut deliberately overnight from Wednesday to Thursday in 15 localities to help replenish the supply. A new bore was connected over the weekend to increase supply but da Graça Carvalho said “mid-term” solutions were still being worked out to make the system more resilient. Speaking last week, she said the situation should improve every day but would not be “completely restored” for two to three weeks.

Improvements made over weekend

Almada’s Municipal Water and Sanitation Services (SMAS) said there were no unexpected cuts to water over the weekend, helped by the new borehole connected to the network, Lusa reports. SMAS president Luís Palma said they were adding about 120 cubic metres of water to the network per hour and that he had no information corroborating complaints of low pressure from some residents. The Almada council said there would be water restrictions — including bans on watering gardens, washing vehicles and using beach showers (full list in PDF in Portuguese) — in place while the state of alert remained in place. It’s currently scheduled to last until July 31 and overnight water cuts are expected over the coming days in several suburbs including Charneca de Caparica, Trafaria and Monte da Caparica (full list here in Portuguese).

Council accused of underinvestment

Da Graça Carvalho accused the Almada council of not having made the necessary investments in its water supply infrastructure, Lusa reports. The health minister said municipalities were responsible for their water supply systems and said the council should have applied for funding. De Medeiros rejected accusations the council had reacted too slowly to the crisis, and hit back at the minister, calling her “badly advised and badly informed”, Expresso reports. The Ombudsman’s Office is investigating the supply shortages following complaints from residents and consumer protection association DECO, Lusa reports, in English. Experts told Expresso the supply shortages exposed the fragilities of a system under pressure from increased consumption and many other issues. They pointed to groundwater extraction limitations, ageing infrastructure, increased demand, over-exploitation of the aquifer and insufficient knowledge about its actual state. The European Commission has been pushing local and national authorities to “reform” the water sector for months, highlighting waste and other serious inefficiencies and arguing the cost of water is so low as to be “counterproductive,” Diário de Notícias reports.

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Fires burn thousands of hectares, seriously injures two

Wildfires burning in Portugal have burnt thousands of hectares and left two people seriously injured in a prolonged heatw…

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Temperatures are set to soar beyond 40°C in at least seven districts as an extended heatwave settles over Portugal, Público reports. After escaping the baking heat much of the rest of Europe has been sweating through in recent days, our good fortune ends on Tuesday (30/6), the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) predicts. The weather bureau has put Évora, Guarda, Beja, Castelo Branco and Portalegre under a yellow warning — the lowest level — since Monday morning and that will cover all of continental Portugal from Wednesday morning. Several districts in the interior, particularly Évora, could see multiple days above 40°C and Lisbon is expected to get close to that figure. IPMA said the temperature increase was due to an anticyclone north-west of the Azores, “extending in a ridge to the Bay of Biscay”, set to move east from Monday (29/6). From Thursday, the whole country will be at very high or maximum fire risk, meaning several activities including barbecues are banned, Público reports. Several districts in the south and interior are already under such conditions.

‘Tropical nights’ a risk to health

Minimum temperatures are also expected to soar, with a string of so-called “tropical nights” — minimums above 20°C — for the capital and many other parts of the country. The body relies on cooler nighttime temperatures to regulate its core temperature and recover from hot days, making hot nights a “major public health concern” that can lead to increased cardiovascular stress and sleep disturbance, Euronews reports, in English.

This year’s heatwave numbers already approaching records

By Friday, Portugal had already sweated through five heatwaves, totalling 59 days with temperatures at least 5°C above average, Expresso reports. The highest number of heatwave days on record is 80 in 2023 followed by 72 in 2025 and 66 in 2020. IPMA climatologist Ricardo Dias said this year’s figure was “very significant” considering it’s only halfway through the year. “It’s a consequence of a hotter climate on average,” he said.

How did we escape last week’s heat?

Portugal was saved from the heatwave that affected much of Europe last week by a maritime low west of Portugal, Público reports. IPMA forecast and surveillance division chief Jorge Ponte said the low sent cooler ocean air towards Portugal, pushing the hotter air mass away. Social media was buzzing with warnings of 40C+ temperatures earlier in the month, which never came to pass. Ponte said those predictions came from some TV commentators and weather pages on Facebook but were never shared by IPMA. He said some models showed the possibility of such temperatures but others showed the exact opposite, meaning the bureau had to weigh all the factors and wait for more certainty to avoid “crying wolf”.

Records fall across Europe

Last week’s weather, the second unprecedented heatwave in Europe this year, caused temperature records to tumble across the continent, Nature reports, in English. Scientists said a heatwave lasting four or five days, with London approaching 40°C, was an anomaly but Europeans could expect to see more of these events in the future as global warming continues. At least 54 people have died from the heat or from drowning in France and an analysis released on Friday found nearly half of 854 cities across Europe broke or would break their time heat-stress records this month. “Heatwaves are here to stay, until we turn the tap off to global emissions,” Copernicus Climate Change Service deputy director Samantha Burgess said. “They’re more frequent, they’re more intense and they’re lasting longer.”

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The heads of a neonazi group allegedly maintained a list of more than 120 “undesirables” and discussed attacks on the prime minister and other politicians, journalists and even comedians, Expresso reports. The indictment by public prosecutors presented last week claimed members of the Lusitanian Armillary Movement (MAL) went as far as a plan to surveil Luís Montenegro’s home and discussed grenade attacks both there and on former prime minister António Costa. Then-President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, former president and prime minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas, comedian Ricardo Araújo Pereira, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), several left-wing political parties and groups dedicated to helping immigrants or combating racism were also included on the list. The neonazis considered them to be a “direct threat to national interests and the sphere of interests of the MAL” and the list, shared in closed Signal groups, was meant to help plan “future actions”. The Central Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution released the indictment two days before the time limit for keeping people in preventative imprisonment ran out for four suspects.

Arrests on terrorism suspicions

A police boss, a truck driver who emigrated to Switzerland and a security guard founded the group in 2018 from a confluence of nationalist subgroups. A year ago, a police megaoperation dismantled the militia and seized dozens of firearms, including six that had been 3D-printed using designs obtained from the dark web. Four leaders were detained on suspicion of terrorism. At the time, they were said to be talking constantly about attacking the parliament. Last week’s indictment included alleged plans for a possible “invasion” of the Assembly of the Republic. Expresso reported the full list of the group’s targets.

One suspect released

One of the formal suspects allegedly involved in making lists of those the group blamed for the “decline of the nation” has been freed after a judge decided the risk they would continue their criminal activity had diminished, Público reports. Prosecutors asked for him and another suspect who had not been behind bars to be subject to three weekly check-ins with authorities and a ban on travelling or contacting witnesses. They described the alleged crimes as “serious”, the risk of flight as “accentuated” and the risk of tampering with evidence or witnesses as “very high”.

Montenegro ‘surprised’ by news of attack plot

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said he was “completely surprised” by news of the alleged plans to attack him, SIC Notícias reports. He said it was “highly regrettable” that such a situation would not be shared with the target, whether that be the prime minister or any other citizen. Montenegro said he was uncontactable in a European Council meeting when the news broke and it was “extremely delicate” that his family was also surprised by the news and unable to contact him at the time. Home Affairs Minister Luís Neves, who was the head of the Investigatory Police (PJ) when six suspects were arrested last June, admitted “there was a failure” by authorities in not notifying the prime minister, Público reports.

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The police officer who shot dead a father during an arrest in Lisbon has been handed a suspended sentence for homicide with eventual intent and excessive force, Público reports. While he won’t be jailed, Bruno Pinto’s suspended sentence lasts for three and a half years and he will have to pay the family of Odair Moniz €90,000, and €220 a month until the immigrant from Cape Verde’s youngest son becomes an adult. The judge also extinguished his suspension from the Public Security Police (PSP), meaning it will be up to an internal inquiry to determine any punishment.

In a judgment handed down on Monday, judge Ana Sequeira found Pinto acted in legitimate defence against Moniz’s resistance and aggression but his use of a firearm was excessive. Pinto justified his decision by saying he’d seen a knife but neither witnesses nor images backed that up during the trial. It was found to be proven that the cook did not wield a knife but Pinto’s testimony was considered sincere except for on that point. Pinto was found to have acted “in the exercise of his duties” as a police officer and without prejudice during the arrest over an alleged driving violation in the migrant-heavy Cova da Moura neighbourhood. He shot to immobilise Monair “on instinct” and for his “own self-defence” but although the arrest was legitimate, his use of a firearm at short range was considered disproportional. The death sparked days of unrest across several neighbourhoods. Sequeira noted the police officer had shown sadness over the death.

A lawyer for Pinto, who was 28 with two years’ experience on the force at the time of the October 2024 shooting, said he was considering appealing and wanted to return to the police. Public prosecutors had called for the agent to be convicted of homicide and be expelled from the PSP. They pushed back on claims of legitimate self-defence, arguing Pinto “should be properly qualified to perform his duties”. Homicide with eventual intent is defined as when someone does not have the direct intention but assumes the risk of killing. The prosecutor argued police action should never exceed what was “strictly necessary” to combat crime. He said images showed Moniz resisting being restrained and handcuffed, while striking the officers a few times but could not be considered “extreme violence” justifying the use of a weapon. Other images seen in the trial also showed Pinto appearing to rummage in a bag next to Moniz’s body, a second bag that hadn’t been on the victim’s belt and a stained knife that only appeared at some later point. The prosecutor claimed the crime scene had been contaminated.

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At first glance, the cups look reusable but in practice they’re just stacking up in homes or being abandoned on the streets, Expresso reports. A system that’s meant to reduce urban waste is often instead creating it, while feeding a parallel business that has nothing to do with protecting the environment. Six years after Lisbon banned disposable cups, the replacements are widely used but cost the drinker a “deposit” of between €0.50 and €2, usually without any ability to return them and get the money back at the end of the night. Lisbon City Council estimates 25,000 cups are used on a busy night in Bairro Alto, Cais do Sodré and Santos. Circular Economy Portugal president Ana Almeida said the system often created new consumption rather than reducing it, adding that it wasn’t enough to just say the cups are reusable if people weren’t given a clear way to return them. “Without effective returns, the deposit loses its incentive function and becomes an additional cost or source of revenue for operators,” she said. Susana Fonseca, vice-president of environment association ZERO, said in practice the reusable cups were used like disposable ones but with a greater environmental impact because they contained more plastic.

The council admitted this month’s Santo António festivities would be a “particularly demanding context” and it wasn’t expecting systems to return cups everywhere. It said it was working with parishes, local businesses and organisers to improve the logistics. The CopoMais recycling system has machines in Bairro Alto, Príncipe Real and Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara but it requires a specific bar code on cups so it is reliant on businesses participating. There are six machines, with nine more to come by the end of June and 34 establishments taking part.

Don’t squash your Volta containers

In other recycling news, Público has issued a reminder that crumpled or squashed containers can’t be returned using the new Volta system, which has machines at thousands of supermarkets. Manager SDR Portugal said it was to ensure the code could be read and the container analysed to ensure it was covered by the scheme. The machines only accept plastic or metal bottles and cans with the Volta symbol, which should be returned empty in good condition and with the lid if applicable. Glass, TetraPak and drinks with more than 25% dairy aren’t covered.

Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies (APED) director-general Gonçalo Lobo Xavier told Radio Renascença that in its first month, the scheme recovered 400,000 containers. He said despite criticism on social media Volta was being well supported, adding that the figures compared well with the introduction of similar models in Austria and Ireland. Preparations are being made to launch a new entity responsible for an integrated system to manage furniture and mattress waste, with a decision on who runs it coming in November, Público reports.

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Wednesday’s (June 3) general strike threatens to disrupt parts of the country, particularly public transport and air travel, Expresso reports. The strike was called by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), one of the two central trade unions, in protest over the government’s attempts to ove…

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The mother of two French children found abandoned on the side of the road in the Alentejo and her partner will remain in custody after facing court at the weekend, Público reports. The children, aged four and five, were found on the road in Monte Novo do Sul, between Comporta and Alcácer do Sal, with just a backpack holding some clothes, water and fruit. The mother, named as Marine Rousseau, didn’t speak in court while the partner told a story the court didn’t find credible. It was decided to hold them in provisional detention due to risks of flight, interfering with the case and disturbing public order. The man, 55, is suspected of an offence against physical integrity for allegedly mistreating one of the children and two counts of abandonment, while the mother, 41, is suspected of two counts of aggravated abandonment, given they’re her children. French authorities had issued a European detention notice to ensure they were held in custody until they could face justice there.

The pair were arrested after being found in a bar in Fátima on Thursday, two days after the children were found, Público reports. French media reported that the children said the adults had blindfolded them and pretended it was a game in which they had to find a hidden object before taking it off. Public prosecutors said the children appeared to be healthy and were released from hospital on Thursday. Last week, public prosecutors remained unsure of why the mother took them from Colmar in France’s Grand Est only to allegedly abandon them in Portugal.

The brothers were reported missing on May 11 after the mother disappeared without any explanations, leaving behind another child, aged 16, Euronews reports, in English. Colmar public prosecutor Jean Richert said authorities had seen the woman “successively in the south of France, in Spain and in Portugal, but without being able to contact her”. She presents herself on social media as a “sexologist” who can help “all people who have suffered trauma to regain serenity and sexual satisfaction”, while her LinkedIn says she “specialises in body practices, developmental dynamics and specific care for trauma”. French media reported the man, identified as Marc Ballabriga, is a former police officer convicted in 2010 of harassment and domestic violence against the mother of his daughter.

The two boys, who lived with their mother, will not be immediately handed over to their father, who only had rights to limited and supervised visits, Expresso reports. They’re currently being cared for by a foster family and several more steps will need to be followed before Portuguese authorities will analyse a request from their French counterparts to return the children to France. The father, who had lost custody two years ago and complained to police they’d been kidnapped, said he was waiting on French authorities to do their work and let him know he could have his children back, RTP reports, citing French media. “Only a few days left until I get my children back,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about them every second since the Colmar police station contacted me to report their disappearance.”

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Lisbon airport will have more space, e-gates and booths from the end of this month but it’s not expected to be enough to avoid long border control lines for non-European Union passengers, Expresso reports. The government is yet to decide whether it will follow Greece in exempting British travellers from part of the new EU Entry-Exit System, which has contributed to problems at airports across Europe. On top of the expansion works due to finish on May 29, the Humberto Delgado Airport will have an extra 360 police officers at the border from July, to cover the summer peak. But the good news didn’t reduce the level of concern from airport operator ANA and tourism associations about the impact of keeping the new system operating without flexibility in terms of collecting biometric data. There have been problems with the data-collecting machines, which appear to need calibrating, something the Internal Security System (SSI) is looking into.

Lines at the border were often more than an hour in April and it’s feared the following months could be even worse if nothing is changed. Biometric data collection can be suspended for 90 days in certain circumstances and has already been paused more briefly on multiple occasions as passengers ran the risk of missing flights — or in some cases actually missed them. An informed source told Expresso full suspension of the EES would not be possible because it would result in Portugal’s suspension from the open-border Schengen zone. Low-cost carrier Ryanair has been particularly vocal in trying to persuade the government to suspend the biometric data collection.

The Home Affairs Ministry said the delays were due to several factors including intermittent IT failures and the construction work under way, Expresso reports. Police said wait times were up to 130 minutes at Porto airport, 110 minutes in Lisbon and 100 minutes in Faro on Sunday morning, pointing to a high number of passengers from outside the Schengen zone. It labelled reports of six-hour wait times “disinformation” that damaged the country’s image.

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More than 500 golden visa holders are set to sue Portugal over changes to the nationality law that will force them to wait years longer to become citizens, Expresso reports. North American lawyer Kevin Goff, who had six weeks left to wait under the old timeframe when the laws changed, said he felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him. Goff said he, his wife and children moved their lives to Portugal and started a fund building health clinics in the country’s interior. “Only I kept my end of the deal [with the government]. We feel betrayed, it was a trap,” he said. They’ll now have to wait eight years for citizenship because the new 10-year waiting period only applies from the day he received his residency card. That delay, caused by first SEF and then AIMA’s inability to comply with the legally mandated 90-day time limit to approve documentation, is just one of many complaints he and other golden visa holders have about the changes. One of the drivers of the legal action said those involved — mostly North American but also from other countries — simply wanted the Portuguese government to uphold its side of the contract, under which they expected citizenship within five years. Liberty Legal lawyer Madalena Monteiro said she was receiving inquiries daily from investors looking to take legal action.

Court rules stripping of citizenship unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court has again blocked the government’s attempt to allow naturalised citizens to be stripped of their citizenship for committing certain crimes, Público reports. The controversial measure was split out from the changes to the nationality law and instead passed through parliament as an addendum to the penal code. The judges unanimously rejected it on Friday, finding it violated the principles of equality and proportionality for creating a difference in law between those born Portuguese and those who earn the right to citizenship later in life. The law would have allowed judges to strip citizenship as an extra penalty for crimes — such as aggravated homicide, slavery, human trafficking, rape and sexual abuse and membership in a criminal or terrorist organisation — committed in the first 15 years as a Portuguese person. Such a law could only be considered proportional when applied to terrorism and crimes against the state, the judges noted.

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The president has accepted a range of reforms that will force foreigners to wait longer to become Portuguese citizens but not without reservations about its lack of broad support, Expresso reports. While there is no transition period built in to the nationality law overhaul he promulgated on Sunday, António José Seg…

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President António José Seguro has used his first 25 de Abril speech to call on young people to pay attention and defend democracy, Público reports. During a solemn session of parliament on the anniversary of the Carnation Revolution on Saturday, he warned freedom did not disappear “all at once” but “bit by bit”. While recognising young people could have reasons to distrust politics, Seguro said democracy was the place their voices could be heard. He called for them to “denounce violations of fundamental rights and engage in dialogue in the face of insults”. “April doesn’t need solemn guardians. It needs attentive, free citizens with critical thinking skills,” he said, adding “don’t be spectators to democracy, be protagonists”. The head of state also added his voice to people calling for donations to political parties to remain public, in response to a legal opinion earlier this month that they would become private. Far-right Chega has announced it will join with the left-wing Socialist Party (PS), Left Bloc (BE) and Livre to propose a draft bill to ensure political donors can be made public, Público reports.

In parliament, it’s become standard for the various parties to try to claim a little piece of the historic occasion for themselves and the 52nd anniversary was no different, Público reports. Social Democratic Party (PSD) parliamentary leader Hugo Soares accused those on the left of being “increasingly prejudiced” while attacking those on the right as “radicalised” and trying to claim the space of “moderation” for his governing party. Far-right Chega leader André Ventura meanwhile tried to minimise the roles of the “Captains of April” who led the coup that peacefully overthrew the dictatorship in 1974. On the left, Socialist Party (PS) leader José Luís Carneiro started by praising his party’s role in the early days of democracy before attacking the government over its stalled attempted labour reforms.

On the streets it was a different story, with Lisbon’s Avenida da República once again swelling in what was an affirmation of hard-won rights as well as a time for festivities and unity, Público reports. Many different generations came together, with carnations held high, to celebrate freedom, while also showing their concern for the present climate within civil society and the future. “April 25 forever, fascism never again” and “the people united, will never be defeated” echoed around the central avenue as people marched in their thousands.

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The Socialist Party (PS) has requested the courts analyse whether part of the government’s renewed immigration crackdown is unconstitutional, Expresso reports. It’s the second time the opposition party has sent nationality reforms approved by parliament to the Constitutional Court but this submission is focused only on one specific element. The reforms include a string of changes to the nationality law, which broadly speaking restrict under what circumstances foreigners can become Portuguese and how long they have to wait. There’s also a change to the criminal code that would allow naturalised citizens to be stripped of their nationality after being convicted of serious offences. PS on Friday only ordered an evaluation of the change to the penal code, arguing it would discriminate between different types of Portuguese citizens. The party called the change “manifestly unconstitutional” and labelled it an “unfair and unfortunate concession by PSD to the far right”. The first time around, the court blocked several changes to the nationality law itself. This time, PS parliamentary leader Eurico Brilhante Dias said while the reform deserved political opposition, his party had worked to resolve some of the unconstitutionalities. President António José Seguro had until Monday (April 20) to decide whether or not to send the other changes to the Constitutional Court. He has 20 days, from April 13, to decide whether to approve or veto it.

You can read more about the changes approved by the parliament in Portugal Weekly from April 7.

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The reintroduction of enhanced biometric screening at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado International Airport has been causing chaos for passengers leaving the Schengen zone, Público reports. Lines at some points reached the area with shops and restaurants in terminal one. Brazilian João Quintino de Almeida said he had to wait in a queue of about two hours to pass through security before another one taking three hours. He said people with European passports were able to skip the long queues. Several passengers slammed the airport for incompetence. Airport operator ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal told Público some passengers missed their flights due to the delays. A spokesperson said eight people missed a flight to Guarulhos in Brazil, which airline Latam said left 52 minutes late due to the long queues.

The new European Entry/Exit System, which involves collecting fingerprints for non-EU passengers leaving or entering the Schengen zone, was suspended multiple times over the weekend due to the delays, Lusa reports. The Public Security Police (PSP), which took over border security responsibility when SEF was disbanded, said it was suspended during parts of Saturday and Sunday at Lisbon, Porto and Faro airports. Spokesperson Sérgio Soares said a large number of people were leaving the passport-free travel zone from those airports and the police force was doing all it could to keep waiting times reasonable and avoid travellers missing flights. He said security control was being carried out safely and normally but without collecting biometric data. The situation in the arrivals zone was calmer across the weekend than the departures. The EES has been phased in since October and is supposed to be fully in place as of Friday just gone. Portugal wasn’t the only place to struggle; UK passengers were first to spend thousands of pounds to get home after missing their flight to Manchester from Milan’s Linate airport on Sunday, the BBC reports, in English.

My partner (and editor) Daniela Sunde-Brown flew out of Lisbon on Friday, April 10, and said in the non-EU queue Australian, Canadian, UK, USA and possibly some other passports with chips were being pushed through the standard electronic gates when she departed. Other non-EU passports such as Brazilian were being channelled through the new EES gates with fingerprints.

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Parliament’s right wing has united to again approve an overhaul to citizenship requirements, which the parties hope will be enough to avoid another rejection on constitutional grounds, Expresso reports. Debate on Wednesday ranged from accusations of failing to act in the past to the relative merits of “patrioti…

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