Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 4^th December 2024

Good morning everyone. During the last week or so the emphasis has been very much concerning on-line scams. The PSP Police, Judicial Police and EDP have all given press releases on this topic.  This coincides with Black Friday and Cyber Monday which was the main topic of my KissFM radio feature last Saturday.

The PSP press release was on the subject of telephone scams which included phishing. One of the telephone scams is the scammer sending the victim a text say that a debt needs paying or the service (such as EDP) will be discontinued. Yesterday EDP gave a press bulletin stating that EDP Comercial registered a significant increase in reports by customers of attempted fraud, at various stages of the energy bill payment process and invoking the company’s name with the intention of obtaining a payment, falsely using the name of EDP, reads a note sent to Lusa.

According to data released by the electricity company, from 1^st November up until mid-November, 2,000 fraud attempts were recorded , when in the same month of 2023 1,700 had been reported for the full month. In October there were more than 3,000 fraud attempts, above the approximately 1,800 in the same period of the previous year, that is, an increase of 65%. This is a considerable increase.  Whenever EDP Comercial is informed of a case, it advises the customer to file a fraud complaint with the police and to immediately contact their bank.

Firefighters are protesting again this Tuesday in Lisbon. After a peaceful start, they broke through the police cordon and threw firecrackers and smoke incendiary devices. They are demanding a 200 euro pay raise. Firefighters from all over the country are involved in the protest, between Avenida de Roma and Campus XXI, where the meeting between the Government and the unions representing firefighters is taking place. Among other demands, they are asking for the career to be valued and for more respect for the profession.

As a result the meeting of the various unions with the Government due today was suspended, as government refused to negotiate with firefighters under “coercion” and in the face of a “disorderly” demonstration. This is a great pity as hopefully through negotiations that these important issues can be addressed.

Yet another strike by CP railways has been scheduled for 6^th December. CP – Comboios de Portugal foresees “severe disruptions” to traffic following the general strike scheduled for next Friday, warning of the impact in the days before and after the strike. “Due to a strike called by the SMAQ union [National Union of Portuguese Railway Drivers], major disruptions to traffic are expected on 6 December with an impact on the days before and after”, states a note published on the CP website. For customers who have already purchased tickets to travel on Alfa Pendular, Intercidades, Internacional, InterRegional and Regional trains, CP will allow a refund. (See news item below).

The Braga Official Animal Collection Centre (CRO) will temporarily suspend adoption processes during the Christmas season, specifically between December 14th and January 5th, to “prevent impulsive decisions” when adopting an animal.

In a statement, Braga City Council states that this measure, which has already been applied over previous years, “has as its main objective the promotion of conscious adoptions” and “arises from the need to prevent impulsive decisions often motivated by the festive context and which frequently result in returns or abandonment”. We support this move as it is an unfortunate fact that despite good intentions, impulsive decisions to adopt an animal as a Christmas or birthday present often leads to abandonment later on. Looking after an animal comes with it responsibility by the owner for its well-being, so think carefully before going ahead at any time of the year.

Our team at Safe Communities Portugal wish you a safe week ahead.

News:

CP warns of “strong impact” of general strike scheduled for Friday

CP – Comboios de Portugal foresees “severe disruptions” to traffic following the general strike scheduled for next Friday, warning of the impact in the days before and after the strike. “Due to a strike called by the SMAQ union [National Union of Portuguese Railway Drivers], major disruptions to traffic are expected on 6 December with an impact on the days before and after”, states a note published on the CP website.

This information will be updated if minimum services are defined, states the same note, which also informs customers who have already purchased tickets about the refund conditions.

Therefore, for customers who have already purchased tickets to travel on Alfa Pendular, Intercidades, Internacional, InterRegional and Regional trains, CP will allow a refund of the full value of the ticket purchased, or its free exchange for another train of the same category and in the same class.

Both (refund and exchange) can be made at the ticket offices in myCP, in the “Your tickets” area (for tickets purchased at the Online Ticket Office and CP App) “up to 15 minutes before the train leaves the customer’s station of origin”.

This strike was called by the train drivers’ union due to the Government’s lack of clarification on the relationship between railway accidents and the alcohol level of these workers and to demand adequate safety conditions.

“SMAQ – National Union of Portuguese Railway Drivers has decided to proceed with a general strike notice for December 6, 2024, with impacts on the 5th and 7th, in the seven companies where it is represented: CP – EPE, Fertagus, MTS – Metro do Sul do Tejo, ViaPorto, Captrain, Medway and IP – Infraestruturas de Portugal”, said that structure, in a statement.

At issue are the statements made by the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at a press conference after the Council of Ministers on Thursday, in which he stated that “it is not well known, but Portugal has the second worst performance in terms of the number of accidents that occur per kilometre of railway” and that it has “a performance around seven times worse than the first half of European countries”.

97 people drowned until the end of October

The majority of people who died by drowning were men over 40 years old, with most cases occurring during leisure sea bathing, boat fishing and vehicles falling into the water.

Ninety-seven people drowned up until October 31, most of them in water and in unmonitored areas, according to data from the Drowning Observatory report of the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards (FEPONS).

In a statement released this Tuesday, FEPONS states that in 10 months 97 deaths were recorded, almost all (96.9%) in unmonitored areas and the majority (56.7%) in areas in the interior of the country.

According to FEPONS data, 43.3% of deaths occurred at sea, 29.9% in rivers, 7.2% in wells, 5.2% in dams, and 5.2% in domestic swimming pools.

The majority of people who died by drowning were men (77.3%) over 40 years old (57.7%), with the majority of cases occurring during leisure sea bathing (21.6%), boat fishing (10.3%, due to vehicles falling into the water (4.1%) and recreational fishing for bivalves (4.1%).

Regarding geographical distribution, 14.4% of cases occurred in the Porto district, 13.4% in Setúbal and 11.3% in Lisbon. According to the document, 30.9% of deaths were witnessed with an attempted rescue.

April was the month with the most deaths (26.8%), followed by August (13.4%) and July (11.3%).

The Drowning Observatory is a system created by the Portuguese Federation of Lifeguards to count deaths by drowning in Portugal.

Registration is carried out by links to newspaper clippings or images thereof. This year’s bathing season began on the 1st of May holiday in the municipality of Cascais and in some places in Madeira.

The bathing season of each year is defined in an ordinance published in the Official Gazette, which identifies the bathing waters and the respective season, considering until the publication that at a national level the bathing season runs from 1 May to 30 October. Between these dates, the municipal councils determine when the bathing season begins and ends in their territory, with some opting to start earlier and end later.