Archives: Situation Reports

Portugal Safety and Security report Wednesday 3^rd July 2024

Good morning.  The rural firefighting system, known as the DECIR, has been reinforced since Monday 1st July to reach its maximum capacity, with 14,155 operatives, 3,162 teams and 3,174 vehicles now on standby, with 72 aerial resources being available. “Delta” phase as it is known, lasts until 30th September, with resources increasing slightly since the same period in 2023.

Traditionally this time of the year is when there are a greater number of rural fires with the potential to burn with some intensity, although in more recent years some major fires have occurred outside this period, including the October 2017 fires, in which over 40 people died.

A few days ago the National Commander of Emergency and Civil Protection, André Fernandes gave an interview to Jornal de Notícias in which he explained the strategy to be adopted during this period. He gave an assurance that the combat device (DECIR) is prepared to respond to large-scale rural fires, but the objective is to “try to stop as much as possible” the fires when they are in the initial phase. The initial phase is in the first 90 minutes of response to a fire and in 2023 this was achieved in 90% of all fires.

At Safe Communities Portugal we closely monitor fires and the impression we have, is what the ANEPC describe as “muscular initial attack”, has been very successful. Of nearly 8,000 fires last year only 10% had the potential to turn into major fires, but the result was only one major fire, which was in Odemira region. André Fernandes statement confirms this. “What we have been doing is trying to stop as much as possible, or reduce, the number of fires that progress to expanded attack [larger scale] and, if they do, here we have the prepared device, with the technical capacity, that expanded attack nowadays requires”.

The use of the word “nowadays” reflects reality, due to extreme weather conditions and the huge amount of fuel around. Therefore fires have the potential to burn with great intensity and spread at a quicker rate, sometimes to a point where the fire becomes more difficult or impossible to suppress through normal combat means – which was seen in the fires of 2017 and some other major fires since then.

Rural fire management, however, is not just the role of the authorities and firefighters; everyone has a role to play – this means society as a whole. Creating awareness of the risk of fires and the dangers that these pose, is the first stage of being prepared. The more prepared we are, the more that can be done firstly to reduce the number of ignitions, and secondly should a fire start, to reduce its impact. The main steps are cleaning land around properties and adopting the type of behaviour that avoids fires starting in the first place.

Not unexpectedly The amount of water stored fell in June (left map) in all river basins compared to the last day of the previous month (right map), according to data from the National Water Resources Information System (SNIRH). The Barlavento Algarve basin continues to be the one with the lowest amount of reserve water, falling from 22.3% in May to 20.8% in June. Almost half of the territory of mainland Portugal was in a weak or moderate meteorological drought at the end of May, with a greater focus on the South region. The message is very clear that we must conserve water at all costs, especially in the south of the mainland.

Further away but a situation that has some influence on the Iberian Peninsula  is that Hurricane Beryl has strengthened into a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane — the earliest on record. A state of emergency was declared Sunday night by Grenadian Gov. General Cécile La Grenade will remain in effect until Tuesday morning. All businesses have closed except the police force, hospitals, prisons, waste disposal and ports. It is expected to affect Jamaica on Wednesday with “life threatening winds and a storm surge”. This is evidence of the warming of the Atlantic due to climate change. Warmer oceans are an ingredient to the forming of cyclones, which can move across the Atlantic affecting on some occasions Portugal. We will continue to monitor over the coming months.

Our team at Safe Communities wish to a safe and enjoyable week ahead.

News

Minister reiterates Government’s willingness to reach an agreement with PSP and GNR structures

Torres Novas, Santarém, 02 Jul 2024 (Lusa) – The Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, today praised the stance of the PSP unions and GNR associations, which are committed to “seeking the best possible agreement with the Government”, believing that it is possible to reach a consensus.

“We are all acting in good faith and I believe that both the unions and the associations have behaved and taken the approach of seeking the best possible agreement with the Government. This position deserves our full respect and the Government is available to discuss this agreement until the end”, said the minister, on the sidelines of the event commemorating the 157th Anniversary of the Public Security Police, which took place today in Torres Novas, in the district of Santarém.

Asked about the meeting between the Government and the PSP unions and GNR associations scheduled for July 9, the minister reiterated the Government’s “availability” to reach an agreement with the PSP and GNR structures, stating that the executive, “in its good will”, will listen to the proposals of each union”.

Negotiations between the Government and the PSP unions and GNR associations on the allocation of a risk allowance remain, after three months, without an agreement after the MAI proposed an increase of 300 euros in the PSP and GNR risk supplement, an amount that would be paid in phases until 2026, increasing the fixed supplement from the current 100 to 400 euros, in addition to maintaining the variable component of 20% of the base salary.

In response, the platform of PSP unions and GNR associations, which initially asked for a 600 euro increase, now proposes an increase of 400 euros paid in three instalments: 200 euros this year, 100 euros in 2025 and another 100 in 2026.

At the end of the PSD parliamentary sessions in Sintra, the Prime Minister stated today that the Government will not put “even one more cent” into the proposal for the security forces, saying that it has already made “a dreadful effort” and is not available to “bring back financial instability”.

The minister also considers that the executive has taken a series of actions “to improve equipment and improve training” of the security forces, stating that the Government has in hand a “deep plan to improve all infrastructures in mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira”.

Regarding the report by the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAE) which warned of the lack of vehicles available to the PSP and GNR and of buildings and facilities in a “poor state of conservation”, Margarida Blasco says that the Government’s priority is to identify, together with the local authorities, “the stations and police stations that need to be restored and rehabilitated”.

Regarding the 481 new agents who completed the course today in Torres Novas, at the PSP practical school, the minister highlighted the importance of the new agents, stating that “they are the symbol of the next courses and of the next young people who embrace this career in public security”.

What’s happening with flights in Europe? Hundreds of cancellations and significant delays

In recent days, Europe has experienced half of all flights that were cancelled worldwide. Last Friday alone, 600 flights were cancelled and more than eight thousand suffered significant delays. The data comes from the Flight Aware platform, which blames bad weather and a lack of staff at airports, airlines and control towers.

The holidays haven’t even started yet for most Europeans, but there are already hundreds of cancelled flights and thousands of delays at airports across the continent.

Last weekend alone, Europe recorded half of all cancellations worldwide. And last Friday, June 28, there were 600 flights cancelled and more than 8,000 delayed. In many cases, delays were more than 3 hours, especially for departures from Spain and the UK.

The data was revealed by the Flight Aware platform and confirmed by the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation. In the last week of June, planes flying over Europe accumulated almost 33,000 hours of delays, an increase of 153% compared to last year. And this Monday, a day considered quiet, 7 out of 10 flights took off later than scheduled. Especially from Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, London, Madrid and Barcelona. In other words, from the busiest airports.

According to experts, there are two causes for these excessive delays and cancellations: bad weather in some European countries, with heavy rain and heavy rains in recent days, and a lack of staff at airports, airlines and, even more so, in control towers.

According to official data from the European Union, last year one in every four flights arrived late at its destination. The worst result in the last 20 years.

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 26^th June 2024

Good morning. There are two items of news which are of concern one local and the other international. We start with the local news.

It was reported yesterday that in 2022, the Algarve lost a total of 15 million cubic metres of treated water from its supply networks, an amount that would be enough to meet half of the needs of Algarve families, according to data released today by DECO PROteste.“More than 15 million cubic meters of drinking water escaped from the distribution system in the Algarve in 2022, equivalent to 49% of the water billed to families that year,” it is stated in a statement.

According to an analysis carried out by the publication of the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO), data from the 16 municipalities in the region indicate that, in that year, half recorded high losses and 15 fell below the minimum levels for the recovery of ageing networks.

This is a terrible waste of water which the Algarve can ill afford. To put this in context, the problem of aging pipes is commonplace in other countries as well and the figures in England and Wales and in Belgium for instance are also very high. What makes it a bigger an urgent problem in the Algarve is that there is a shortage of water due to drought and no short term solutions in place. The repair/replacement of aging water pipes should have been a priority project some years ago, as the problem has been known by local officials for some time. New projects such as desalination will be a waste of money if water is distributed through supply pipes that are already leaking!

The second issue is that the number and intensity of extreme wildfires, the most destructive and polluting, have more than doubled worldwide in the past 20 years due to global warming caused by human activity, a new study finds. Using satellite data, researchers studied nearly 3,000 wildfires with enormous “radiative power” — the amount of energy emitted by radiation — between 2003 and 2023 and found that their frequency increased by a factor of 2.2 during that period.

The temperate coniferous forests, especially in the western United States, and the boreal forests, which cover Alaska, northern Canada and Russia, are the most affected, with the frequency of these fires multiplied by 11 and 7, respectively. Considering only the 20 most violent fires of each year, their cumulative radiative power has also more than doubled, at a rate that “appears to be accelerating”, according to the study published on Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, reported the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

This a worrying finding as climate change resulting in extreme weather conditions is accelerating leading to more frequent and intense wildfires. Not only does this result in loss of life and destruction of property, “but with these fires, vast regions are being covered by the smoke cloud, which has significant effects on health and causes many more premature deaths than the flames themselves”, highlighted the researcher.

Lastly a reminder of a number of scams around at present. In the last week these scams have used the name of the tax Authority, phone callers pretending to be from the receiver’s bank, the “Hello Mum- Hello Dad” scam and a fraudulent message using the logo of the GNR informing the reader that he/she has “several legal proceedings in force against that person”. These are all scams and the best response is not to click on any link, do not provide and information and delete the message.

Our team at Safe Communities wishes you a safe and pleasant week ahead.

News

Health – Users can now consult available emergency services on an interactive Map on SNS portal

Lisbon, 25 June 2024 (Lusa) – Users can consult, from today, the emergency services available in the next seven days through an interactive page on the National Health Service (SNS) portal, announced the SNS Executive Board.

In a statement, the executive board said that this tool automatically integrates the emergency schedules that appear in the Integrated Provider Information System for the next seven days and is available at https://www.sns.gov.pt/servicos-de-urgencia-sns/

“This means that the information provided is obtained from the platform where hospitals upload and permanently update their staffing schedules for emergencies, which is the same platform used to refer users via the SNS 24 Line (808 24 24 24),” explained the executive management.

According to the statement, users can search by type of emergency, by region, by local health unit and by health unit and “find out, quickly and intuitively, which hospitals are closest and which are accessible”.

The executive management said that this data will be updated hourly, providing users with the response from each hospital and the NHS in terms of their emergency services.

The Executive Board of the SNS also highlighted that the summer plan “is being fulfilled” in terms of obstetrics/gynaecology emergencies, which, in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, which has presented the most difficulties in terms of shifts in recent weeks, are operating as a network, in order to “always guarantee the assistance response”.

This plan for obstetrics/gynaecology emergencies was agreed between the Ministry of Health, clinical directors and the presidents of the boards of directors of the hospitals involved, it says.

Over the last two weeks, the Ministry of Health published a map of emergency services that are open, subject to restrictions and closed for the following days, with the greatest restrictions on the number of healthcare professionals working in Lisbon and the Tagus Valley in the areas of obstetrics and paediatrics.

António Costa given the green light to become President of the European Council

Negotiators from the European Socialists, EPP and Liberals have reached an agreement on the division of top positions: the former Portuguese Prime Minister should take over the presidency of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen the European Commission and Kaja Kallas should be the next head of European diplomacy.

There is already an agreement between European political families on the names chosen to occupy the top positions in the European Commission, the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign Policy. They will be the German Ursula von der Leyen, the Portuguese António Costa and the Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, respectively. The information was released by the newspaper Politico and confirmed by SIC.

The six European leaders who negotiated the names in question were Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, representing the European People’s Party ; Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for the Socialists ; as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte , representing the Liberals.

SIC understands that the six had a video conference this Monday night and reached an understanding. The three names now have to be confirmed by European leaders, who meet in Brussels on Thursday.

Top positions are approved by qualified majority. In the case of Von der Leyen, she still has to be elected by a majority in the European Parliament.

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 19th June 2024

Good morning everyone. We start with commemorating the Pedrógão Grande fires from 17^th to 24^th June 2017 when 66 people lost their lives – the worst fires in Portugal’s history,

The first report into the Pedrógrão Grande fire was completed in just 4 months and the lessons learned, served the basis of many improvements that have been made since then. Our association Safe Communities Portugal became involved in various working groups and meetings with various government officials, including from the newly formed AGIF, shortly afterwards to help develop some of the many recommendations that had been made.

Seven years later, the recent public interventions by local and national politicians on the occasion of the celebrations of Portugal Day, or the testimony of residents in the three municipalities most affected by the fires, coincide in the analysis that much still needs to be done in those territories in the centre of the country.

Depopulation, an ageing population, a lack of qualified jobs or forest management, communication failures, dangerous roads or deficient public services are, after all, problems that coincide with dozens of municipalities in the Portuguese interior.

The need for cohesion in the national territory is constantly reiterated, but in those territories this goal is slow to be fulfilled. The aggravating factor is that in the Pedrógão Grande area there was a deadly fire the likes of which had never been seen before, and as a result of its consequences, there are those who, to this day, are still waiting for a new house – at least four first homes are yet to be rebuilt – or who continue to seek medical help in the area of ​​mental health, because there are psychological traumas that do not go away and the sound of a fire engine siren heard throughout the mountains is causing the population to become restless once again.

Unfortunately we still here of examples where private land has not been cleaned and also government land, particularly roadsides in high risk areas. With increasing extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures, it is very easy for fires to start (by human hand) and to spread due to increased intensity. Each day we publish on this page the fire danger for each municipality as well as the Fire Weather Index (FWI) which is an indicator of the potential intensity of any fires which start.

This is very important as when the FWI level reaches 50 it is “extreme” which means it is extremely difficult to suppress by firefighters, and the only way the fire can be extinguished is by precipitation or a decrease in winds.

With that our team wishes you an enjoyable week ahead

News

AIMA processed 110,000 immigrant residency applications last month

The Migration and Asylum Agency processed 110,000 immigrant residency applications last month, a third of which were submitted by Brazilians.

In the first days of May, immigrants entering the country until April 30th who had presented the so-called expression of interest began to be notified by email to pay a mandatory fee to regularize the residence process.

The aim of the Migration and Asylum Agency (AIMA) was to speed up the many applications on the waiting list, but the immediate effect was the opposite. At the doors of AIMA, in Lisbon and Porto, long queues formed, day and night, with dozens of migrants complaining about the lack of explanations and, above all, about the delay in the processes, which in some cases had already lasted several years.

It is now known that, in just over a month, 110,000 pending requests were processed. The AIMA data was released this Monday by Diário de Notícias Brasil, which also states that a third of those who paid the fee, equivalent to 33 thousand people, are Brazilians.

The 110,000 requests processed represent a decrease in the approximately 400,000 processes inherited from the former SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service). The notification of immigrants took place before the end of the expression of interest announced two weeks ago by the current government.

New bridge over the Guadiana awaiting the Spanish government

The Andalusian Junta expressed support for the connection between Alcoutim and Sanlúcar and will request a meeting with the Madrid executive and Portuguese authorities. Funded by the PRR, the project must be completed by June 2026. The Iberian Summit scheduled for October could unlock the process

When we talk about projects that are taking place in Portugal, the first idea that will come to most people’s minds is that of the new Lisbon airport. But this is by no means a unique case. Further south, there has been talk for decades of a new bridge over the Guadiana River, between Alcoutim, in the Algarve, and Sanlúcar, in Andalusia.

The project is now included in the PRR but, to be built with these funds, it must be ready by June 2026. And, with time passing, the danger of it not being implemented begins to loom. And it’s Spain’s fault.

There are more and more Portuguese people wanting to donate their bodies to science

More and more Portuguese people declare that they want to donate their bodies to science after death. After a sharp drop in 2020, the number of donation intentions is back to pre-pandemic values.

For medical students and researchers, dissecting a human cadaver is a privilege, but studying the dead depends on the initiative of the living. The number of body donations for scientific purposes dropped sharply with the arrival of the pandemic, but has since increased and is now back to pre-COVID-19 levels.

According to Jornal de Notícias, in the last five years, public colleges registered 4,478 intention processes. In other words, almost 4,500 Portuguese people formally expressed their desire to donate their bodies for scientific purposes upon death. As for dead bodies actually received, there were 618 between 2019 and 2023.

The Portuguese Anatomical Society is grateful for the generosity of donors, who contribute to the medical training of thousands of students and health professionals. However, experts point out gaps in the law that regulates donations, which dates back to 1999. For example, there is a lack of standardization in which situations faculties can refuse a body or how cadavers should be preserved.

The process for expressing a wish to donate is simple. The future donor, who is of legal age, fills out a form provided by the medical school of his or her choice, whether public or private. The declaration must be notarized, but, as a general rule, all costs are borne by the school. The wish must also be shared with family and friends, who will have to inform the institution of any possible death.

Most colleges also have agreements with funeral agencies that allow them to guarantee all the celebrations that the family desires, or that the family requested during their lifetime, before handing over the body to science.

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 12^th June 2024

Good morning. We start with “Portugal Day”. The President of the Republic announced that one of the objectives of the Portugal Day celebrations, which began in Pedrógão Grande, is to remember the “double tragedy” of the 2017 fires and protect the future. To journalists, Marcelo stated that the objective of this year’s Portugal Day celebrations “is to draw attention to the double tragedy of June and October 2017”.

The fire that broke out on June 17, 2017 in Pedrógão Grande, in the district of Leiria, and which spread to neighbouring municipalities, caused 66 deaths and more than 250 injuries, seven of which were serious, and destroyed half a thousand homes and 50 businesses.

The official commemoration began on Sunday morning, at the Memorial in Homage to the Victims of the 2017 Forest Fires, with the ceremony of raising the national flag, followed by a tribute to the victims of the 2017 forest fires. In the morning, a mass was held in Figueiró dos Vinhos dedicated to the victims”. We will be covering the 7^th anniversary of the Pedrógão Grande Fire on 17^th June.

Of concern is data from the European drug report released yesterday, that the drug landscape is changing in Europe, with more potent synthetic opioid substances, new mixtures of products and changes in consumption patterns. These changes are causing a growing threat and increasing public health problems, concludes the “European Drug Report 2024 – Trends and Developments”, released today in Lisbon by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

One of the main dangers is the fact that “with poorly sold products (often on the Internet and with adulterated substances), consumers may not be aware of what they are consuming and may be subject to greater health risks, including potentially fatal poisoning,” the report highlights. Disturbing is that at the end of 2023, the EMCDDA was monitoring more than 950 new psychoactive substances, 26 of which were reported for the first time in Europe that year.

Turning to the weather we highlight the incident involving a flight from Palma De Mallorca to Vienna which was damaged when it flew thru a severe hail storm. The flight landed in Vienna at 17:59 CEST after one hour and 59 minutes of flight. No injuries reported. The aircraft sustained significant damage to its nose, windshields, and other forward-facing surfaces due to intense hail strike during the flight. Despite the turbulence and extensive damage, the plane managed to land safely on runway 11 at Vienna International Airport.

We highlight this because intense hailstorms seem to be more frequently occurring and can cause considerable damage and harm. An example yesterday from ESTOFEX Storm Forecast was their report for Romania stating that, the weather “environment is conducive for destructive hail with diameter well above 5 cm”.  If intense hail is forecast then we advise people to be aware and prepared, and take cover as well as protecting property.

The annual Global Peace Index was published yesterday afternoon. Portugal ranks seventh among the safest countries in the world, decreasing one place compared with last year (last year’s placing readjusted from 7th to 6th), and is also the fifth safest country in the European Union. A total of 163 countries surveyed. Of concern however is that according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, there are 56 active conflicts around the world with more than 90 countries involved in cross-border wars that have already forced 110 million people to leave their homes. The world has become less peaceful for the 12th time, with peace deteriorating in more than 90 countries.

Our team from Safe Communities wish you a safe and enjoyable week ahead

News

International police meeting brings together security forces from around the world in Oeiras

Police officers from several countries will exchange experiences at a meeting in Oeiras. Labour rights, artificial intelligence and the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal are among the topics under debate.

Portugal was the country chosen to host the 14th meeting of the International Council for Police Representative Associations, a body representing millions of police officers worldwide.

Between this Tuesday and the 14th, members of the security forces from several countries will debate the main challenges of the class in Paço de Arcos, Oeiras.

Speaking to SIC, Armando Ferreira, president of the National Police Union (SINAPOL) explains that “labour rights, but also matters related to police exchange and police knowledge” will be discussed at this meeting.

For example, at this year’s meeting the national authorities will “explain to all foreign representatives how the decriminalization of drug use works in Portugal”.

Among the topics under discussion will also be the use of artificial intelligence for the police service, the use of electric vehicles and examples of “successes and failures of the police mission”.

Luís Carrilho, national director of the PSP, also highlights an “important initiative” to promote dialogue between unions and police associations from an international point of view.

Asked if this could be a summer of protests and possibly some strikes by the security forces, Luís Carrilho says he trusts the police.

“We are all with a mission spirit, committed to providing a good quality of life in terms of safety for the population who live in Portugal or who choose Portugal to come and spend their holidays.”

More potent synthetic substances, new drugs and consumption changes pose growing threat to health

Lisbon, June 11, 2024 (Lusa) – The drug landscape is changing in Europe, with more potent synthetic opioid substances, new mixtures of products and changes in consumption patterns, data from the European drug report reveal.

These changes are causing a growing threat and increasing public health problems, concludes the “European Drug Report 2024 – Trends and Developments”, released today in Lisbon by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).

This observatory begins on July 2nd a new mandate with reinforced and more comprehensive powers, given the new challenges that have arisen in the area of trafficking, consumption and new substances.

The document, which presents data from the previous year from the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU), Turkey and Norway, highlights that consumers are more exposed to “a wider range” of psychoactive substances, “often of high potency or purity, or in new forms, mixtures and combinations”.

“With poorly sold products (often on the Internet and with adulterated substances), consumers may not be aware of what they are consuming and may be subject to greater health risks, including potentially fatal poisoning.”

This is the case of heroin, which continues to be the most consumed opioid in Europe and responsible for a “significant part” of health problems, with the European market being “increasingly complex”, with a variety of synthetic substances that are causing concern.

The report highlights concerns around potent synthetic opioids, sometimes misused or mixed with medicines and other drugs, as well as MDMA (ecstasy) adulterated with synthetic cathinones (stimulants) and cannabis products adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids.

At the end of 2023, the EMCDDA was monitoring more than 950 new psychoactive substances, 26 of which were reported for the first time in Europe that year.

A message from this year’s report goes to polydrug consumption: two or more psychoactive substances at the same time or in sequence, often mixed with alcohol.

The growing opioid problem in Europe appears with an “emerging threat” called nitazenes (synthetic opioid 40 times stronger than fentanyl and 140 times more powerful than morphine), which has expanded throughout the world and which has caused last four years more than 200 deaths.

Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 5^th June 2024

Good morning everyone. On Monday the Council of Ministers debated and adopted the Government’s action plan for migration, which aims to correct the serious problems inherited in the entry rules into Portugal, to resolve the more than 400 thousand outstanding issues, to ensure the operability of border control systems and dignity and humanism in the integration of immigrants.

The plan is based on the principles that Portugal needs immigrants for demographic, social and economic reasons, but this immigration must be regulated and monitored, accompanied by humanist integration and a proactive approach to attracting foreign talent. The action plan, has four axes of action (I) regulated immigration, (II) attraction of foreign talent, (III) human integration that works and (IV) institutional reorganization.

The decree-law that changes the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and repatriation of foreigners from national territory, revokes the residence permit instruments based on the mere expression of interest, safeguarding, however, the situation of foreign citizens who have already initiated procedures residence permit under the present law.

This is a far reaching piece of legislation which came into mediate effect on midnight Monday/Tuesday 3^rd/4^th June. There are 41 measures listed within these four axes. What is important however is the fact that it safeguards, the situation of foreign citizens who have already initiated procedures residence permit under the present law. It is important to resolve the serious back lock of 400 thousand outstanding issues. Action plan in English here:

action-plan-for-migration-learn-about-the-main-measures

Turning to the weather. A cold air drop will move in the coming days, approaching the Mainland. This situation is forecast to cause changes in the weather on the Mainland. At an early stage (Thursday and Friday), this system will be responsible for sending the Sahara dust. In a second phase, its approach will cause instability, with possible heavy showers and thunderstorms. If the phases overlap we can expect mud rain. We are monitoring closely.

We have published several times in the past “fake accident scams” where the victim is approached by someone in a car park claiming that the person had had damaged his car by reversing into it from a parking bay. The person demands money for repairs and the demand can be quite threatening if not handed over in cash at the time. These people move between different car parks in the Algarve and we are aware of at least one occasion that the culprit had young children in his car!

We posted on Tuesday an example where the victim was an elderly lady and the culprit used a white powder on the bumper of his car and on hers, to try and simulate that an accident had taken place, whereas in fact it had not. The culprit eventually left not however before frightening the lady concerned. If this happens to you do not pay, and say you are calling the police whereupon the person concerned will normally leave quickly!

Lastly a reminder that the government has made it clear that when the fire risk is high do not burn cut and piled waste. This and extensive burns are responsible for over 50% of fires, resulting from becoming out of control. From 1^st June regardless of the fire risk you need to obtain Authorisation from your city council and this will not be approved when the risk is high. In fact many municipalities have introduced blanked bans over the coming months. Remember a small spark can cause a very large fire!

Our team at Safe Communities wishes you a safe and happy week ahead

News

INEM admits delays in service, 50 calls were (simultaneously) on hold

Calls to Urgent Patient Guidance Centers have increased in recent days, overloading a service that operates with a shortage of professionals. This situation resulted in a delay of between 10 and 15 minutes in service.

In recent days, there have been serious delays in answering calls to 112. The situation was reported by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. There were periods with around 50 calls on hold, which could compromise timely assistance to the population.

INEM has already acknowledged the delays in responding to aid. Calls to Urgent Patient Guidance Centers have increased in recent days, overloading a service that operates with a ‘deficit’ of professionals. This situation resulted in a delay of between 10 and 15 minutes in service.

“We were aware that yesterday there were 50 calls on hold for long periods of the day (…)”, denounces Paulo Paço, from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.

In addition to the shortage of professionals, INEM officials link this increase in the number of calls to high temperatures, but the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians points out other problems: obsolete screening and failures in the communications chain.

Queues and pending processes remain at AIMA, a scenario repeated in Lisbon and Porto

The long queue at AIMA in Porto leaves no room for doubt as to the immigrants’ anxiety about having the processes completed.

Márcia Nunes arrived at 22:00, stayed the night by the door, and even got first place but it didn’t do her much good. “I left without a response. They are only regularizing those who demonstrated until April 30th”, explains Márcia.

And the problems continue. Those waiting despair due to the long delays and lack of information. “I’m here today because of my nationality situation. I asked for documents, two years and seven months have passed and I still haven’t received them”, says a Russian immigrant.

“That’s what you see out there. People without assistance, god damn it, without documents, without the slightest purpose”, adds a Brazilian immigrant.

To try to resolve these situations, the Government presented a new plan for migration that highlights the end of expressions of interest, a rule that some are welcome.

“So that people don’t come to Portugal illegally. There are many situations throughout the country where many immigrants do not have a work contract and this also causes a lot of tension and social problems”, comments a Portuguese man.

Along with AIMA in Lisbon, the same measure is criticized. “First he has to draw up a work contract for which he doesn’t even know if he is qualified for that activity”, says Ricardo Amaral, president of the Association of Brazilians in Portugal.

Concerns that extend to family reunification processes.

“I went to an immigrant support institution and they were the ones who made the appointment. We didn’t have any response from AIMA”, says an Angolan immigrant.

There are almost half a million cases pending and despite the current lack of human resources, the government guarantees that they will all be regularized.

19.9 tons of waste collected in the Queima das Fitas procession in Coimbra

Coimbra, 03 June 2024 (Lusa) – Coimbra City Council collected 19.9 tonnes of waste in the Queima das Fitas procession, an amount that was entirely sent for recycling, the municipality reported today.

This year, “it was possible to send all (100%) of the waste for recovery, increasing recycling by 12.9 tons, compared to 2023 (at the time, seven tons of the 10.4 tons of waste were recycled)”, stated the Chamber in a note sent to the Lusa agency.

According to the municipality, of the 19.9 tons of waste collected during the procession, which took place on May 26th, packaging (19.56 tons), especially canned beverage packaging, which was the majority, to which are added 340 kilos of glass.

The garbage collection and street cleaning operation was carried out immediately after the passage of the student floats, between the upper and lower parts of the city, and involved 70 workers, nine vehicles, with different functionalities, and more than a dozen of complementary technical means.

“In addition, a waste collection system was set up at the end of the procession, before the cars were dismantled, within the cars themselves, provided by the City Council”, he added.