The Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 8th November 2023
Good day to you all. There have been two big stories this week which have hit the headlines. The first is the sudden resignation of the Prime Minister over a scandal which is still fully to come out into the open. There is every likelihood that there will be another General Election as a result of his resignation, and we will all hear more about this next week.
The other big story is the publication of a report into the situation in Portugal of Rural Fires in 2023. The year 2023 was the first year ever without fatalities due to rural fires. Zero fatalities, whether civilians, people who were caught by the fire during burning, cut and piled waste or more extensive burning and operatives” said the president of Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF).
Between January 1st and October 15th this year, 7,635 rural fires were recorded, the second lowest figure in the last 10 years. A reduction that is particularly visible in the summer months, with fewer fires on the hottest periods.
According to data released Monday (6 November) by the AGIF, this year there were 58% fewer fires compared to the average in the period 2010-2019, less 26% compared to 2022. For more information on these statistics see our more detailed post further in this report.
Now let’s have a look at some of the other stories that have hit the headlines in the past week across the country.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO DRIVE, DON’T DRINK
One in three drivers that die in road accidents has a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than 0.5 g/l and three in four of these drivers have a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than 1.2 g/l.
Don’t be part of this statistic.
See this flyer http://www.ansr.pt/…/Campanha…/Flyer%20Taxa%20Zero.pdf where among other info you can find the Fines for Driving with a Blood Alcohol Level above 0,2 g/l (professional drivers and recent driving licences) or 0,5 g/l (non-professional drivers)
ALGARVE EXPERIENCES SMALL MAGNITUDE 3.4 EARTHQUAKE
UPDATE – The Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere informs that on 05-11-2023 at 21:18 (local time) an earthquake of magnitude 3.4 (Richter) was recorded at the stations of the Continent Seismic Network, whose epicentre was located approximately 8 km east-northeast of Monchique.
This earthquake, according to the information available to date, did not cause any personal or material damage and was felt with maximum intensity IV (modified Mercalli scale) in the municipalities of Albufeira and Lagoa (Faro).
It was also felt with less intensity in the municipalities of Beja (Beja), Monchique, Portimão and Silves (Faro).
According to Spain’s Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), the quake hit on Sunday, November 5th, 2023, at 9:18 pm local time at a very shallow depth of 5 km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicentre, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 3.4 earthquake.
OPERATION “LIMPEZA PROFUNDA VI” – COMBATING INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING
The Judiciary Police (PJ), through the National Unit to Combat Drug Trafficking, arrested three Portuguese who are strongly suspected of committing the crime of drug trafficking.
The arrests occurred red handed, as part of an ongoing investigation into a criminal group that, through the regular airline flights, was introducing large quantities of narcotic products into national territory.
The detainees, employees of companies based at Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon, removed the drugs directly from the plane’s hold, shortly after their arrival, diverting it from the baggage inspection. The drug had just arrived in Lisbon, on a flight from Latin America.
A large quantity of cocaine was seized which, if it reached the distribution circuits, would be sufficient for 440,000 (four hundred and forty thousand) individual doses;
In addition to the drugs, a large amount of money in notes, four luxury vehicles, cell phones and various documentation relevant to proving the facts under investigation were also seized. The investigation continues.
The detainees, aged 42, 47 and 50, were present for the first judicial interrogation, and the coercive measure of preventive detention was applied to all of them.
In this operation, the Judiciary Police had relevant support from the PSP – Airport Security Division of Humberto Delgado Airport.
OCTOBER – AMOUNT OF WATER INCREASED IN NINE RIVER BASINS
The amount of water stored increased in October 2023 in nine river basins and decreased in three compared to the last day of the previous month, according to data from the National Water Resources Information System (SNIRH).
October 2023 storages by river basin were generally higher than the October storage averages (1990/91 to 2022/23), except for the Sado, Mira, Guadiana, Ribeiras do Algarve and Arade basins.
The Barlavento basin continues to be the one with the smallest amount of water, just 7.6%, when the average is 53.4%.
Of the 60 monitored reservoirs, 18 had water availability greater than 80% of the total volume and 17 less than 40%.
According to SNIRH data available today, at the end of October the Barlavento (7.6%), Arade (25.5%), Mira (31%) and Sado (36.7%) basins were at a lower level.
The Ave basin had the largest percentage of stored water, with 99.6% of its capacity, followed by the Douro (84%), Cávado (83.3%), Lima (75.5%), Tagus (73 .4%), Guadiana (67.7%), Oeste (66.9%) and Mondego (66.7%).
October 2023 storages by river basin were generally higher than the October storage averages (1990/91 to 2022/23), except for the Sado, Guadiana, Mira, Ribeiras do Algarve and Arade basins.
Most of the river basins have several reservoirs.
“A TERRA TREME” NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE AWARENESS EXERCISE – NOVEMBER 14TH
The National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC) promotes the national seismic risk awareness exercise, called “A TERRA TREME”.
Safe Communities Portugal has supported this each year in a number of ways.
This initiative is part of the activities that form part of the National Strategy for Preventive Civil Protection and aims to empower the population to know how to act before, during and after an earthquake, sensitising citizens to the fact of living in a risk society, and challenging themselves o to get involved in the process of building safer and more resilient communities.
The exercise comprises the practice of 3 simple gestures that can make a difference to those who practise them in the face of an earthquake.
The action takes place during one (1) minute, in which the participants, individually or collectively, are invited to perform the 3 self-protection gestures: DROP, COVER, HOLD.
WHO IS INVOLVED?
Everyone can and should participate: individually or in groups, wherever they are.
HOW?
People/organisations/schools/etc are invited to register in the dedicated area of the website. At the date and hour do the exercise and share it on social media afterwards
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
1 – REGISTRATION – Register on the site, expressing your interest in this campaign. Refer to the number of expected participants and contacts for possible sending of more information.
2 – PLAN – Define the dimension you want to give to the exercise, which can go from the simplest level with the practice of the 3 gestures, to the elaboration of a more complete exercise that even tests an Emergency Plan, involving different entities.
3 – DISCOVER – Involve everyone in your family and organisation and share information about A TERRA TREME through your contact list, encouraging them to participate.
4 – CONSULT – Share the dissemination materials available on the site, reinforcing individual and collective preparation for an earthquake situation.
5 – EXERCISE – On the date and hour do the exercise and share it on social media afterwards
You can get some info on our website, download this leaflet https://www.safecommunitiesportugal.com/…/Earthquakes…
The “A Terra Treme” site https://www.aterratreme.pt/
PORTUGAL RURAL FIRES- ONE OF THE BEST YEARS YET!
The year 2023 was the first year ever without fatalities due to rural fires. Zero fatalities, whether civilians, people who were caught by the fire during burning, cut and piled waste or more extensive burning and operatives” said the president of Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (AGIF) at a press conference.
Between January 1st and October 15th this year, 7,635 rural fires were recorded, the second lowest figure in the last 10 years. A reduction that is particularly visible in the summer months, with fewer fires on the hottest periods.
According to data released Monday (6 November) by the AGIF, this year there were 58% fewer fires compared to the average in the period 2010-2019, less 26% compared to 2022.
This decrease extends to larger fires, whose numbers have been decreasing. Until now, there was an average of 19 fires with a burned area of more than 1000 hectares. In recent years this average has dropped to seven.
The burned area fell by 75% compared to the 2010-2019 average and 69% compared to last year.
According to data presented by AGIF, with regard to the causes of fires there is a “reduction of more than 50% in the number of fires that result from several types of burning and in the number of fires that result from arsonists/vandalism”.
The number of “fires resulting from accidents remains the same”.
Throughout this year, and for the first time, the investment made in prevention (61%) is higher than that in fighting fires (39%).
But this, as mentioned by Duarte da Costa, president of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), does not correspond to a disinvestment in fighting fires (in 2023 there was a reinforcement of the device, namely aerial means) but to an “awareness of the greater need to invest in prevention”.
A work that has been done by the State, but also by citizens, namely through the cleaning of land, as highlighted by Nuno Banza, president of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) “The country as a whole is doing work of true prevention”.
PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced his resignation on Tuesday after he was embroiled in a corruption investigation into the awarding of energy-related contracts. Covering alleged “misuse of funds, active and passive corruption by political figures, and influence peddling,” according to a statement from public prosecutors.
Costa, being the prime minister in exercise, will be investigated independently for allegedly intervening personally to speed up the awarding of licences for lithium exploration and hydrogen production.
“The duties of prime minister are not compatible with any suspicion of my integrity,” Costa told a press conference.
“In these circumstances, I have presented my resignation to the president of the Republic,” he added. Portugal’s head of state Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa accepted Costa’s resignation and called for a meeting of parliamentary parties on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Portuguese presidency.
The president must also convene the Council of State, which includes the country’s most senior politicians, former presidents and other notable figures which will happen on Thursday.
“The President of the Republic will address the nation immediately after the meeting of the Council of State,” the statement added.
Earlier Tuesday, Portuguese media reported that investigators had searched several ministries as well as Costa’s chief of staff office at the official residence.
Public prosecutors later said they had indicted Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba and issued an arrest warrant for Costa’s chief of staff. The investigation covers lithium mining concessions as well as a hydrogen production project and data centre to be built by the company Start Campus in Sines, a town about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Lisbon.
Citing flight risk and the possibility that illegal activity could continue, arrest warrants were also issued for the mayor of Sines and two executives at Start Campus.
The president of the executive board of the Portuguese Agency for the Protection of the Environment (APA) was also indicted. APA in May approved a lithium mining project, an essential metal for the manufacturing of electric batteries.
Portugal has the largest lithium reserves in Europe and is the continent’s leading producer, but its current output goes entirely to the ceramic and glass-making industries.
Costa, from Portugal’s Socialist Party, has been prime minister since late 2015 and was re-elected in January 2022.