Gouveia e Melo goes rafting on the Paiva River — watch the video
The jeep on the way to the boarding point on the Paiva River, in the municipality of Arouca, shows a landscape devastated by the wildfires. Henrique Gouveia e Melo, the sailor who commanded the Navy, today put on a wetsuit, lifejacket and helmet to go rafting in the river rapids, aiming to highlight the importance of “outdoor sports and nature tourism in an area that burned heavily last summer and to show the care needed to protect this heritage.” At 65, the retired admiral says he has nothing to prove when it comes to demonstrating health, vitality and energy, because almost all candidates try in some way to show their physical fitness. “I have nothing to prove. I left the Armed Forces less than a year ago. On my last mission, ask the people in the Navy what I did…” He says he is prepared. He has never done rafting. “What I did were things more violent than rafting” — on submarines and on ships. Gouveia e Melo justifies this campaign mise-en-scène by pointing to the country’s abandoned areas: “Not only are we seeing the interior become depopulated, but sometimes we don’t take care to bring economic activity to the interior, and that economy can often be provided by outdoor sports and nature tourism. It’s beautiful, we look around and what we see is a landscape badly burned, very destroyed.” “By coincidence, the Government is now preparing a decree-law on rivers and the protection of rivers. An advanced society understands the importance of nature, the impact humans have, and the care we must take to preserve it,” he states.
André Pestana wants the Army to fight wildfires and clear woodlands in winter
André Pestana stressed that, as the President of the Republic is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, he should have the courage to say that they need to be defending the population in summer, when wildfires occur.
André Pestana wants the Army to fight wildfires and woodlands cleared in winter
Presidential candidate André Pestana said today that the Army should be mobilised to fight the forest fires that affect Portugal every year, and that woodlands should be cleared in winter to end “the powerful business of fire”.
Inquiry into the wildfires: PS summons minister's brother-in-law to Parliament
The parliamentary committee is following the line of the ongoing criminal investigation in 'Operation Control Tower'. The list of figures the PS wants to hear includes a relative of Minister Leitão Amaro and a businessman who financed the Chega party.
2025 was the second-worst year of the decade for burnt area in Portugal
More than twice the area that would have been 'expected' burned, given the weather conditions, but roughly half of the area recorded in the tragic year of 2017. In a New Year’s message, the Agency for Integrated Rural Fire Management (AGIF) called for measures to avoid setbacks in the year ahead.
Pedrógão Grande cemented his image as the 'president of affections'. Cotrim de Figueiredo wants to be more than that
On the N236, João Cotrim de Figueiredo walks alongside the president of the Association of Victims of the Pedrógão Grande Fire. Through Dina Duarte he hears the concerns of people who have not forgotten June 2017.
Pedrógão Grande cemented the image of the 'president of affections'. Cotrim de Figueiredo wants to be more than that
On National Road 236, João Cotrim de Figueiredo walks alongside the president of the Pedrógão Grande Fire Victims' Association. He listens, through Dina Duarte, to the concerns of people who have not forgotten June 2017.
Leiria region records 162 rural fires in 2025
The Leiria region recorded 162 rural fires in 2025, the third-best year in terms of number of incidents and the fifth-lowest area burned in the past decade, according to data sent to the Lusa news agency.
Forest fires pollute the air more than previously estimated
Forest fires release an average of 143 million tonnes of organic compounds into the air, 21% more than previous estimates indicated.
More than 137,000 lightning strikes tore across the skies in 2024
A summer marked by wildfires recorded 58.8% of all lightning discharges.
Emigrants affected by the fires will be considered for compensation, government assured
Portuguese emigrants affected by last summer's wildfires will be taken into account for compensation for losses in agricultural land, equipment, or other constructions, the government assured in a response to the PS parliamentary group.