WELCOMING MORE TOURISTS

Portugal is planning to boost tourism with multi-million euro projects to attract more holidaymakers to inland areas.
 
The projects are intended to support nature, gastronomy, wellness and cultural tourism, which at present is dominated by Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve.

This is making headline news abroad. According to the pan European television channel Euro News t he gove,rnment is bankrolling 12 tourism projects to the tune of €4.5 million, with a total investment of around €11 million. The projects will boost tourism across the north and central areas of Portugal, as well as the Alentejo and Ribatejo.

This is part of the broader initiative launched in February last year and has a budget of €30 million.

The latest allocated funds are earmarked for public, private and associative entities. The projects will also focus on   supporting upskilling drives, like training and capacity-building programmes for workers in vulnerable circumstances within the sector.

When the deal for the investment contracts was iniatiared, Castro Almeida, Minister of Economy and Territorial Cohesion, acknowledged that while there are larger projects that can develop without the need for so much state support, there are also smaller projects, “particularly in inland areas, aimed at enhancing cultural and natural heritage, which are highly appealing and novel for foreign visitors”.

For Almeida, these smaller scale tourism projects must be “promoted and made known”.
In 2025, Portugal welcomed 32.5 million visitors, including 19.7 million international visitors, according to data released by Turismo de Portugal.

ECONOMIC RESILIENCE

The crisis in the Middle East is causing chaos in countries across the world, but Portugal is showing much more resilience than most.

 

The reason for this is Portugal's development and dependence on renewable energy such as solar and wind rather than fossil fuels such as oil. Portugal does import some oil, but from North Africa and the United States, not the Middle East. 

 

The conflict in the Middle East and particularly the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is causing worldwide inflation. Steep rises in costs of international transportation have sharply increased prices in Portugal and elsewhere of petrol and diesel for car owners and commodities such as food.

It is hoped that peace talks in the Middle East will return things to normal as soon as possible. 

 

Portugal had to weather a financial crisis of its own between 2010 and 2014. Having restructured its economy since then, last year was marked by high exports, increased tourism revenue, thus outpacing most other European Union countries. 

DOMESTIC ABUSE WORSENS

 

 

Domestic violence and child abuse is on the increase in Portugal, partially in the Algarve and Lisbon, according to a statement this week from the Victim Support Association (AS AV).

 

They say that between 2022 and 2025 a total of 13,039 children and young people were supported by the organisation. This was a 52.4% increase over the same previous period.

 

APAV reports that on average it has supported 272 children and young victims per month, the equivalent of 63 per week and nine per day.

 

Violence and other Crimes against young people numbered 23,935 during these four years, reflecting a stark overall rise.

 

The number of crimes recorded in the Algarve was 24.4%, followed by Lisbon (14.5%) and Braga (10.2%).

The organisation’s statists show that domestic violence accounted for 61.7% of cases, followed by sexual crimes at 31.8% and other forms of violence at 6.5%.

 

APAV emphasised an increase in reported child sexual abuse cases from 390 in 2022 to 864 in 2025 - an increase of 121.5%.

The data also shows that most victims are girls, but boys accounted for 39.9% of cases. The highest number of cases recorded was among children aged 11 to 14 (30.9%), followed by those aged six to 10 (26.9%), children up to five years old (20.3%) and young people aged 15 to 17 (21.9%).

The identified offenders were mostly parents (39.6%) other family members or family friends. Most were men (61.9%).

 

WAR PLANES RESTRIIONS

 

US aircraft can use the Azores landing bases on condition they do  bomb civilian  to the use of the Azores air base by US war planes provided they they do not target infrastructures in the Middle East war.

 

Reuters are reporting that 76 US aircraft have landed at the Lajes Field air base in the Azores and 25 overflies of the territory have occurred since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

 

Before the current pause in the wat, President Trump threatened to devastate 

 

Portugal’s Foreign Minister has told a parliamentary hearing that the United States had complied with the conditions, but said that several times Azores landings had been refused

AIR QUALITY WARNING

 

The quality of the air over mainland Portugal is expected to remain poor and place the elderly and children at risk until Thursday thus week.

 

The air is being polluted by dust from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa.  The warning came from Portugal’s national health authority today, Tuesday, urging the elderly and children to take care.

 

Sahara dust particles can trigger inflammatory responses in the raspatory system leading to acute and chronic respiratory conditions.

 

The yellow dust from the Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world, can be smelt by many people especially in the Algarve.

 

 

 

 

The quality of the air over mainland Portugal is expected to remain poor and place the elderly and children at risk until Thursday thus week.

 

The air is being polluted by dust from the Sahara Desert in northern Africa.  The warning came from Portugal’s national health authority today, Tuesday, urging the elderly and children to take care.

 

Sahara dust particles can trigger inflammatory responses in the raspatory system leading to acute and chronic respiratory conditions.

 

The yellow dust from the Sahara, the largest hot desert in the world, can be smelt by many people especially in the Algarve.

 

 

 

BEWARE - FIMES COMING AGAIN

 

Forest fires in Portugal are yet again a severel threat that is getting ready to burn more than 1% of the national territory, the highest rate in the EU.

 

Aggravated by climate change, droughts, strong winds and rural abandonment these fires devastate thousands of hectares resulting in human tragedies, loss of biodiversity, and high economic costs. 

 

Climate Change, extreme heat waves and prolonged droughts create ideal conditions for the risk of wildfires, as does the expansion of highly flammable plants such as eucalyptus, along with rural abandonment.

 

Most of the fires are of human origin, whether due to negligence or arson. Strong winds and steep terrain often make firefighting difficult.

The year 2025 recorded one of the worst fire seasons, with 43% of the total burned area in the EU concentrated in Portugal and Spain.

 

The loss of human lives and the destruction of homes and infrastructure are recurring consequences.

Protected Areas: National parks, such as Serra da Estrela and Gerês, are frequently affected, threatening the habitats of protected plant and animal species.