The Porto Brief, Week of 1 November 2026: A Third Clearance on Praça D. João I, a Tuesday Vote on Affordable Homes, and FC Porto Make It Ten From Ten

Welcome to the Porto Brief, your weekly view from the banks of the Douro. The housing camp on Praça D. João I was cleared for a third time before dawn today, the council puts its affordable-housing climbdown to a vote on Tuesday, and FC Porto are ten from ten in the league. Your roundup for 25 October to 1 November.

Praça D. João I: a third clearance, and talks still on hold

The PSP moved on the camp in front of the Rivoli at about 04:30 this morning, the third removal since 20 October; organisers count 38 people hurt in Porto, and police figures are still awaited. Our report has the details, and Saturday's march from the Batalha came the afternoon before.

Earlier in the week the camp's open assembly, about 300 people on Thursday night, voted to answer the mayor's invitation by proposing a public meeting with Pedro Duarte inside the Rivoli, so that everyone could attend. On Friday the assembly took no decision on the meeting. The movement plans to gather on Praça da Trindade, beside the city hall, on 9 November. The six people detained in the 25 October clearance go on trial on 13 November.

Affordable homes: the council votes on Tuesday

The row over seven developers allowed to pay cash instead of setting aside affordable homes comes to a head at the private council meeting on Tuesday 3 November. Vice-mayor Catarina Araújo's proposal reverses the 20 October decision, saying the housing crisis is "not compatible" with any doubt about the city's commitment to homes in the centre. She met the PS and Chega councillors on Thursday and said they brought nothing new. The mayor says the inclusive-zoning fund has taken about 33 million euros since 2021 from 16 or 17 developers, and he wants hotels and short-term lets to contribute homes too. We covered the background on Monday.

Two more housing moves this week: ten times the IMI on empty buildings in the historic centre from 2027, and the Misericórdia's plan for up to 400 rental homes at 500 to 1,500 euros a month. On Friday the 17 mayors of the metropolitan area, meeting in Gondomar, said they would take on more of the housing job if the money came with it. Tenants with a problem may note that the Porto association Habitação Hoje says illegal evictions top its caseload, followed by unlawful rent rises and withheld deposits.

Football: ten from ten

FC Porto beat bottom-placed Estoril 4-0 at the Dragão on Saturday night, with three goals in under ten minutes after the break and Gabri Veiga named man of the match. That is ten wins in ten league games and a clear lead over Benfica and Sporting. In midweek they also reached the Taça da Liga final four by beating Académico de Viseu. Next is a trip to Napoli in the Champions League, where Porto need points after two straight defeats.

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Around the city

The lease on the building in Rua do Loureiro that houses the Hazrat Hamza mosque ran out on Saturday. Its owner, the Lello bookshop group, had offered another year if the council agreed to delay works to correct unlicensed alterations; the council says it received no such request, and the mosque says it is staying.

Domus Social has hired private guards for the Bairro do Cerco, from 20:00 to 08:00 every night, in a 52,866 euro pilot. Students at the Soares dos Reis art school blocked the gates on Tuesday over material costs and the state of the building. In Valongo, the licence for the contested Recivalongo landfill at Sobrado expires on 1 December, and Livre wants the government to say whether it will be renewed. The GNR counts 11 deaths in 1,245 motorcycle and moped crashes in its part of the district this year.

Also from the north this week: Mário Ferreira acquitted, anaesthetist shortage at IPO Porto, high-speed rail expropriations in Ovar and Feira and São João da Madeira's hospital under new management.

Getting around

Since Tuesday the council has been painting bus lanes on Avenida de Fernão de Magalhães north of the VCI to the Areosa roundabout: 2.2 kilometres in all, southbound first (Circunvalação to Rua de Contumil), then northbound. The council's transport company, STCP Serviços, is now Mobt Porto. Night tunnel closures end with Faria Guimarães on 3 and 4 November (22:00 to 06:00), and next Sunday, 8 November, the Porto Marathon starts at 08:00 by the Sea Life, so expect road closures in Porto, Matosinhos and Gaia.

What's on, and the weather

An update to last week's listings: Rem Koolhaas's talk at the Casa da Música was postponed, and the council says a new date will follow. Porto 2001's 25th birthday gets Canções de Granito at the Coliseu on Friday 6 November at 21:00, with Pedro Abrunhosa, GNR, Três Tristes Tigres and Pedro Burmester playing songs they tie to the city. A Miguel Gomes retrospective has opened at Serralves's Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira (until May 2027), and the old Guindais funicular engine house has reopened as a digital art space with Amazonia Immersive Art. José González plays the Coliseu on Monday (30 euros); the Casa da Música has a free open rehearsal of Rachmaninoff's Third on Friday at 10:00, with the full concert on Saturday at 18:00 (30 euros); and Portugal play Switzerland at handball at the Super Bock Arena on Wednesday at 19:00. More in our events calendar.

IPMA expects dry, sunny days with an easterly breeze: 24 degrees today, easing to about 17 by Thursday, with nights down to 6 degrees by then.

That's the Porto Brief for this week. See you next Sunday.

Feature image: Teatro Municipal Rivoli on Praça D. João I, Porto, by Joehawkins, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.