Soalheiro leads in Tim Atkin's Portugal Special Report 2026
The wine producer Soalheiro is highlighted as a leader in the latest report by critic Tim Atkin.
Melgaço
Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Latest news and stories from Melgaço.
Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Latest news and stories from Melgaço.
The wine producer Soalheiro is highlighted as a leader in the latest report by critic Tim Atkin.
In Minho and Trás-os-Montes, two border villages share trails for exploring nature and the smuggling stories that marked generations. In Cevide, where Portugal begins, and in Moimenta da Raia, known as the 'Crag of the Three Kingdoms', borders are still part of the memory and the landscape.
Despite the cuts made particularly during the night, the Mayor of Melgaço says that services have been working day and night so that “water does not run out in the taps of every home.”
REPORT || In Melgaço, around 300 goats live to the sound of relaxing music and receive massages from a mechanical brush. “Happy animals produce quality milk,” believes Prados de Melgaço, which Verónica Solheiro and Marco Sousa created after leaving Gaia for the land where they grew up. The municipality's first cheese factory has already won ten international medals, but it faces rising costs and the difficulty of creating jobs in a region from which many young people continue to leave.
REPORT || A repurposed speaker plays music all day long for a herd that is barely heard. Verónica Solheiro and Marco Sousa returned to Melgaço, the land where they grew up, to create the municipality's first cheese factory, which has already been distinguished with ten international medals. Now they are trying to create jobs that help other young people decide to stay.
He used gas to blow up the ATM and fled in a car stolen hours earlier, also in Melgaço. The 29-year-old detainee is suspected of being part of a group that carried out another robbery in Tondela.
The town of Melgaço has been selected as the starting point for a key stage in the 2026 edition of the Volta a Portugal cycling race.
Municipal transport services will remain in operation “until the lines under the recently launched CIM tender are operational,” states Albano Domingues.
Maria João Cerdeira, manager at Soalheiro, believes that the connection between wine and textiles can place Portugal at the forefront of sustainable luxury and the regenerative industry.
The Prime Minister warned this Friday that the Government “will not abandon its convictions” on labour matters and guaranteed that it has “already yielded on all the main pillars” of this reform, accusing the UGT of being the partner “with the fewest concessions.” Regarding the possibility of dropping the labour package, as suggested today by the PS leader, Luís Montenegro said in Melgaço that without an agreement in the Social Concertation, the final word on the labour package “will always belong to Parliament,” stressing that “if there is one thing the Government does not do, it is to abandon its convictions.” Montenegro highlighted that the Government has already made concessions on fixed-term contracts, reinstatement regimes in cases of dismissal, individual time banks, and outsourcing, noting that the UGT is the social partner that has made the fewest concessions so far.
The Prime Minister guarantees that the Government has already yielded partially or even entirely on some sensitive matters. Furthermore, Trump informs Congress that hostilities in Iran have ended.
FEATURE REPORT || In Castro Laboreiro, transhumance still takes place between the winter settlement of Cainheiras and the summer settlement of Padressouro, with a mother and daughter moving their home, animals, and the season up the mountain. But this is also a story of resistance, memory, and a very unique way of being in the world. A story of freedom. The report is by journalist Tiago Palma, with cinematography by Lucénio Carvalho and editing by João Pedro Ferreira.
In Castro Laboreiro, transhumance is still practised between the winter settlement of Cainheiras and the summer settlement of Padressouro, with a mother and daughter taking their home, animals, and the season up the mountain. However, this is also a story of resistance, memory, and a very unique way of being in the world. A story of freedom. The report is by journalist Tiago Palma, with sound design by João Pedro Ferreira.
REPORT || Over two days at the end of March, between Cainheiras and Padressouro, an 82-year-old mother and her 60-year-old daughter lead chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, bags of flour, staffs, clothes, and hay — and a way of life that threatens to end with them. In Castro Laboreiro, transhumance still exists, but it has also become something else: a conversation about old age, work, fear, freedom, borders, and loneliness. And the stubbornness to carry on.
The 43-year-old driver was in the car with two minors. The court sentenced her to a two-year suspended prison term and banned her from driving for six months.
With Peneda-Gerês National Park as its backdrop, Melgaço presents itself as “Portugal's most extreme nature destination” and offers experiences full of adrenaline and fun on the water, on land and in the air. Passeio Verde is supported by Kia — Official Car of Boa Cama Boa Mesa.
The family is in the Branda de Portos area. Personnel from the GNR Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit have already been mobilised.
A major difference between the two is that the low-pressure system Ingrid is bringing snow to lower altitudes, painting the north of the country white.
In the village of Cristóval, in the parish of the Melgaço municipality — the northernmost in Portugal — 60 of the 516 registered voters had cast their ballots by 12:25 in the presidential election, and roughly 160 people are expected to have voted by the time the polls close.
