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Environment

Environmental news, climate policy, and sustainability in Portugal.

The multiple-arch Aguieira dam on the Mondego river in central Portugal under a clear blue sky

The Girabolhos Dam Heads to Tender as the Zero Association Brands It a False Fix for the Mondego's Floods

The Environment Minister launched the public tender for the Girabolhos dam this week, reviving a project cancelled in 2016. Spanning Seia, Fornos de Algodres, Nelas and Mangualde, it aims to curb Lower Mondego floods by 2038 — but the Zero association calls it a 'false solution' and wants a fresh im

The Portugal Brief 20 Jul 2026

A young managed forest of pine and eucalyptus trees in central Portugal, slender trunks and green undergrowth typical of the country's fire-prone woodland

A New Free Platform Tracks the Iberian Peninsula's Living Forest Moisture to Sharpen Wildfire Warnings

A free new platform, ForestDrought, maps the live moisture of forests across the Iberian Peninsula every day — bringing the water in living plants, not just dead tinder, into wildfire-risk models as Portugal endures its worst fire year since 2017.

The Portugal Brief 19 Jul 2026

The Alqueva dam on the Guadiana river in Portugal's Alentejo, its curved concrete wall and access road above the reservoir under a blue sky

Águas de Portugal's New President Warns Almada Is Not Alone as a Quarter of the Country's Treated Water Leaks From Ageing Pipes

The new head of Águas de Portugal says Almada's supply crisis is a warning for the whole country: about 27% of treated water leaks from ageing pipes that are being renewed at a pace that would take 180 years, even as a €5 billion plan and EU funds inch forward.

The Portugal Brief 19 Jul 2026

Two wind turbines on a green hillside behind a dry-stone wall at the Serra Branca wind farm in the Azores, Portugal

Sabugal Rejects Two Planned Renewable-Energy Acceleration Zones Over Fire and Land Fears

The Guarda-district municipality of Sabugal has issued an unfavourable opinion on two large renewable-energy acceleration zones (PSZAER) proposed on its land, citing overlap with maximum fire-hazard and forest areas and a planned business zone. It joins a wave of interior councils demanding local be

The Portugal Brief 17 Jul 2026

The River Mondego at Coimbra with its curved footbridge and cable-stayed road bridge

Environmental Groups Contest the Girabolhos Dam Tender, Calling It a 'False Solution' to Baixo Mondego Flooding

As the government opened the tender to build the Girabolhos dam on the Mondego, the groups Zero and Quercus called it a 'false solution' to the Baixo Mondego floods and demanded a fresh environmental assessment, noting the reservoir covers under 15% of the river basin.

The Portugal Brief 15 Jul 2026

A satellite image showing plumes of wildfire smoke drifting across the Iberian Peninsula

Portugal Endures Its Worst Fire Year Since 2017 as a Rural Movement Decries Political 'Abandonment'

Some 30,155 hectares have burned across Portugal by early July — the worst since 2017 and up about 70% on 2025 — with the fiercest blaze near Vouzela. A citizens' movement blames political neglect of the rural interior, while experts point to farmland abandonment and unmanaged fuel.

The Portugal Brief 14 Jul 2026

Chega Urges the Government to Track a University Study Into Contamination Around the Azores' Lajes Air Base

Chega Urges the Government to Track a University Study Into Contamination Around the Azores' Lajes Air Base

The long-running question of what decades of military fuel storage have left in the ground around the Lajes Air Base has returned to Portugal's Parliament. Chega, the third-largest party in the Assembleia da República (Assembly of the Republic), has...

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

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