Latest news and stories about government policy in Porto, Portugal for expats and residents.
The recent dispatch signed by Health and Health Management Secretaries has sparked controversy as it paves the way for establishing a Cardiac Surgery Unit at the Local Health Unit (ULS) of Santo António in Porto. This decision has raised questions regarding healthcare policy and resource allocation in the region.
The Secretary of State for Health has signed an order that supports the establishment of a Surgery Unit at Hospital de Santo António, where she has previously worked and maintains connections. This decision highlights the ongoing relationship between healthcare policy and the officials who influence it.
On the penultimate day of a Porto‑focused campaign, Mendes — the candidate backed by the PSD and CDS — intensified calls for voters to concentrate their ballots next Sunday, warning that the result must not be left to chance. He framed the vote as decisive for who will occupy Belém and criticised the broader presidential campaign as lacking substantive policy ideas, arguing it is time to end an empty contest and consolidate support behind a clear alternative. The intervention underlines a tactical push for vote consolidation and a critique of opponents’ absence of coherent presidential proposals.
The Socialist Party (PS) is undergoing leadership changes in its Porto branch, with Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro stepping down to allow for early preparation for the 2029 municipal elections. Party leader José Luís Carneiro is pushing for consensus-based leadership across districts to strengthen the party's strategy, as it seeks to regain control of Porto and address recent electoral setbacks in the region.
Nuno Melo expects the signing of SAFE contracts soon and guarantees that the delay in the Strategic Defence Concept does not hinder investments.
Former minister under Luís Montenegro and current mayor of Porto criticises the UGT. Additionally, Adalberto Campos Fernandes has been appointed coordinator of the 'Health Pact' created by the President of the Republic.
“There are currently no requested changes on the table,” stated the Minister Assistant and for State Reform, Gonçalo Matias.
The Government wants the Tapada do Outeiro natural gas power plant to be operational by 2030, but the public tender has been postponed until 2027.
The refusal was based on “strict legal reasons,” said the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers. One of them is the “legal impossibility of the business of transforming an association into a foundation.”
The Government has rejected the request for recognition of the Livraria Lello Foundation, based in Matosinhos, which was created at the beginning of 2024 with the aim of promoting reading, critical thinking, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The order, signed by the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Tiago Macieirinha, was published...
The signing of the Porto Declaration by the Patriots for Europe, the third-largest group in the European Parliament, saw Jordan Bardella and André Ventura discuss their future governing ambitions. Bardella, leader of the French National Rally, and Ventura, leader of the Portuguese Chega party, expressed strong alignment on opposing the European Green Deal, criticising current immigration policies, and advocating for energy sovereignty. Both leaders emphasised their shared vision for a Europe of sovereign nations, with Bardella endorsing Ventura as a future head of government for Portugal.
The Patriots for Europe, a far-right political group and the third-largest bloc in the European Parliament, including parties such as Chega, National Rally (France), and Vox (Spain), signed a document in Porto rejecting the 'unilateral pressure exerted by the European Commission for the advancement of renewable energy', citing fiscal or ideological pressure and models imposed from Brussels. During the 'Patriots Study Days - Energy, Territory and Sovereignty' meeting, figures such as André Ventura and Jordan Bardella signed the Porto Declaration, which advocates for a 'realistic and comprehensive energy mix' and criticises EU policies for causing energy price hikes and undermining national sovereignty. The group also called for increased scrutiny of wind farm expansion, citing concerns over environmental impact and the protection of rural and coastal communities, while asserting that energy policy must remain a core competence of individual member states.
Ana Povo gives a job to the son of the president of the Santo António hospital in Porto, to which she is linked as a doctor.
Ana Povo gives a job to the son of the president of the Santo António hospital in Porto, to which she is linked as a doctor.
The BE coordinator, José Manuel Pureza, accused the President of the Republic today in Porto of intending to pressure one of the trade union centres by calling a meeting with social partners on Wednesday to discuss the labour package.
The topic of energy sovereignty will bring the Patriots for Europe group to a hotel in Porto, featuring André Ventura and Jordan Bardella. The event aims to demonstrate that security and immigration are not the only priorities for radical right-wing parties. The three-day 'Patriots Study Days' will focus on energy dependence, offshore wind farms, solar energy impacts on agriculture, and the role of nuclear power, culminating in the 'Porto Declaration'.
Several deputies from the Patriots, the European party to which Chega belongs, will be in Porto for three days of conferences focusing on the energy sector. Among the speakers is also Mira Amaral, a former minister under Cavaco Silva.
On the CNN Portugal programme 'O Princípio da Incerteza', the Mayor of Porto and former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs discussed the right to keep the identities of political party and candidate donors anonymous. The Entity for Political Accounts and Financing will now hide the identities of donors, maintaining only internal oversight. The decision follows an opinion from the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents based on the General Data Protection Regulation, but experts criticise it as a step backwards for democratic transparency.
Former minister Ana Mendes Godinho and the mayor of Matosinhos, Luísa Salgueiro, are two of the new members of the PS National Secretariat to be elected today, a body from which MEPs Ana Catarina Mendes and Francisco Assis are departing.
A new directive reduces the deadline for public administration commitments in general to 30 days. The current legal regime, with a 90-day deadline, is already being applied in an “almost impeccable” manner, argues Pimpão.
The National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) expressed its opposition this Wednesday in Gondomar to the amendment of the law on commitments and arrears, which proposes a payment deadline of 30 or 60 days instead of the current 90 days. “There is no need for this change,” argued president Pedro Pimpão, calling on the Government to...
The National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) notes “with surprise” that it is a “mere observer” in the Local Finance Law working group, considering its formation “late”, although it welcomes the initiative, it was announced today.
The government's proposal to eliminate the Court of Auditors' prior approval for public contracts up to 10 million euros has sparked a divide between the executive and the Court's president, Filipa Urbano Galvão. While Prime Minister Luís Montenegro frames the measure as an administrative simplification, the Court of Auditors warns of risks to public finance oversight. However, mayors from Porto, Matosinhos, and Évora argue that the current system causes excessive delays and that the change will unlock investment without sacrificing accountability.
Correio da Manhã revealed that Francisco Rocha Gonçalves favoured a friend's hospital while serving as Secretary of State.
Margarida Balseiro Lopes states that during 2026, the opening of three more victim support offices is planned, specifically in Matosinhos, Santarém, and the Azores.
The two-year review served for the Prime Minister to suggest that he will continue without preferred partners, and to insist that the oversight of public decision-makers should be conducted a posteriori.
In a speech in Maia, the Prime Minister celebrated the trajectory of public accounts and the country's financial situation.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro says the new rules for the Court of Auditors' oversight of public contracts aim to end a situation where mayors and administration officials are afraid to make decisions. “Last week we approved in the Council of Ministers the reformulation of the Court of Auditors' operations, and we will approve in the coming weeks a...”
The Prime Minister stated that the Government is heavily investing in state reform and is well-prepared for the healthy political battle ahead regarding this matter.
The world is more unstable, but the Government has managed the feat of making the country better, even against the pessimists 'who anticipated, if they did not even wish, that Portugal would return to having a deficit in its public accounts', says the Prime Minister.
