Recovering well
President Marcelo is in hospital having been operated on Monday night for a strangulated abdominal hernia. The head of state became unwell after official duties during the day. He is likely to remain in Porto’s São João hospital until Wednesday and is expected to be ‘out of action’ in terms of official business for two weeks. Marcelo had a similar issue with a hernia which required a laparoscopy in 2021.
Chinese market
The 50th National Congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT) has begun in Macau, with more than a thousand professionals – a record number – to discuss the tourism sector. APAVT president Pedro Costa Ferreira stresses that the “obvious strategy” is to woo “the world’s largest tourist market, China” which was bringing so many people to Portugal until the Covid pandemic put a spanner in the works.
Energetic corridors
Brussels has selected two energetic corridors that include Portugal as ‘projects of common and mutual interest’ which consequently receive extra money and licensing fast-tracking. The projects are the electrical interconnection between Portugal and Spain (passing through Ponte de Lima, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Beariz and Fontefría) and a hydrogen interconnection between Portugal, Spain, France and Germany. “These projects will strengthen energy connectivity (…) bringing the completion of the Energy Union closer,” says Brussels.
Military planes
Austria is currently upgrading its military transport planes – and until their arrival Portugal has agreed to lend its C-130s and K-390s as and when Austria says it needs them. The agreement, announced by Austria’s minister of Defence Klaudia Tanner, includes Portugal’s Air Force training up future flight crew for Austria’s military. Other details, such as how Portugal is seen to benefit from these arrangements, have not been explained, say reports.
Orca attack
A fishing boat named “Força Divina” (divine force) lived up to its name on Monday night rescuing a Dutch sailing boat that ended up on rocks outside Nazaré following an attack by orcas. The ‘Spiral of Life’ was lucky. It appears to be repairable, and the crew – a young couple – escaped unharmed. Orca attacks along the Portuguese coast have unfortunately become commonplace, with a number of boats having already been sunk.
Wolf attacks
Attacks by wolves in areas of northern Portugal like Miranda do Douro have left livestock farmers in despair. Aside from the stress and issues of keeping their flocks safe, they have to cope with the fact that the ‘compensation’ promised by authorities that insist the Iberian Wolf must be protected falls short. Payment for example for a sheep could be as little as €20, when the animal sells for €100.
Frontier controls
PSP police warn that the ‘simplified system of frontier controls’ adopted to reduce queues that otherwise put the country on ‘front pages’ for all the wrong reasons are actually putting national security at risk. The police force responsible for controlling borders claims the new system is much more designed to mask the lack of police available for this task than to ensure that undesirables enter (or leave) the country.
Angolan embassy
The Angolan embassy has registered ‘consternation’ following the accident this week involving a BMW in Lisbon which skidded off the road and exploded, killing all six young people (of Angolan heritage) on board. Describing the victims as “youngsters with a smiling future ahead of them”, the embassy sent its condolences to the families involved, saying it hoped they could find “the necessary strength to overcome this moment of extreme pain”.
ends
