The Porto Brief, Week of 25 October 2026: A Siza Plan for the Avenida da Ponte, a Tender to Save the Palácio de São João Novo, and FC Porto Set a Club Record

Welcome to the Porto Brief, your weekly view from the banks of the Douro. The council put a Siza Vieira plan for the Avenida da Ponte out to public comment and opened a tender to rescue the Palácio de São João Novo, the housing camp on Praça D. João I was cleared again overnight, and FC Porto set a club record in Barcelos. Your roundup for 18 to 25 October.

At the Câmara

The long-empty slope beside the Sé is back on the table. The council has put out to public discussion a land-division plan for the Avenida da Ponte (Avenida de D. Afonso Henriques), signed by Álvaro Siza Vieira. Across seven plots it allows up to 27 affordable homes, 21 shop and office units, 39 parking spaces, a museum and a viewpoint, and more than 5,300 square metres of gardens, with the granite walls on the west side framing an open space for events and a street market.

A few streets away, the council's GO Porto company has opened a design tender for the Palácio de São João Novo, the 18th-century palace by the Fernandine wall that has been shut since 1992 and that a technical report says is at imminent risk. The plan is to turn it into the central site of the Museu do Porto,. The base price is 940,000 euros, the design must be done in 420 days, and bids close at 23:59 on 29 November.

In Cedofeita, the council showed councillors its plan for Praça Pedro Nunes: 42 percent more green space, double the pedestrian area, the road through the square cut to half its width and the area added to the 20 km/h zone. The Socialists said 42 percent is too little. From this month, clubs running adapted sport for disabled athletes no longer pay to use municipal sports halls, which covers about 250 athletes at 12 organisations.

Praça D. João I, week three

Police broke up the housing camp on the square again at about 2am today, as they did on Rossio in Lisbon; our report from this morning has the arrests, the injuries each side counts and the court dates. It ends a week of crossed wires over talks. On Tuesday mayor Pedro Duarte told councillors he would listen to the protesters but "not negotiate", and did not recognise their popular assemblies. On Friday the mayor spoke of "very cordial" contacts at an advanced stage; the camp's spokesperson told Lusa that, beyond the first formal invitation, the movement has had none.

Football

FC Porto won 1-0 at Gil Vicente on Saturday with a goal from Borja Sainz, who only started because Pietuszewski was hurt in the warm-up. It was a ninth straight league win from the opening day, a club record that had stood for 87 years, and Francesco Farioli's side lead on 27 points, eight clear of Benfica and nine clear of Sporting, who both play this round later. It came after two Champions League defeats in a row for the first time under Farioli, at Betis and at home to PSV.

The Dragão hosts Académico de Viseu in the Taça da Liga quarter-final on Wednesday 28 October at 20:30, with the Super Dragões and Colectivo Ultras 95 sectors closed: a one-game ban over the glass barrier that broke and injured 17 home fans at Alvalade in August 2025. The club says season-ticket holders in those sectors will be refunded for the match.

Around the city and the metro area

A taxi hit three people on a pedestrian crossing on Avenida Fernão de Magalhães on Wednesday evening; seven people were hurt, and the PSP said a young girl was in a serious condition. In Valongo, a court stripped the current mayor, Paulo Esteves Ferreira, and his predecessor, José Manuel Ribeiro, of their mandates for abuse of power over the 2020 ban on lorries using the only road to the Sobrado landfill; both, elected for the PS, say they will appeal.

The founder of Maus Hábitos told Observador the cultural space may have to leave Rua Passos Manuel when its lease ends in December 2027, after the landlord contested its Porto de Tradição listing; he has bought the top floor of the Centro Comercial STOP as a fallback. Nurses' union SITEU strikes and demonstrates at ULS Santo António on Monday over performance appraisals still unapproved since 2023/24, which hold up pay rises.

Also from the north this week: 69 charged in Porto over fake insolvency claims, new ground-handling licences at Porto airport, a solar plant refused on the Serra do Marão and a protected landscape for the Serra d'Arga.

Getting around

The council's annual night maintenance shuts the city's tunnels in turn from 22:00 to 06:00: the Antas I and II tunnels from 26 to 28 October (alternately), the Almadas tunnel from 28 to 30 October, the Goelas de Pau tunnel on 2 and 3 November (with the Ribeira tunnel narrowed), and Faria Guimarães on 3 and 4 November. Live closures are on the council's traffic platform.

Plan ahead for Sunday 8 November: the EDP Porto Marathon starts at 08:00 by the Sea Life with a record 15,000 runners from 104 countries, on a course through Porto, Matosinhos and Gaia.

What's on, and the weather

Architect Rem Koolhaas returns to his Casa da Música on Tuesday 27 October at 18:00, 25 years after Porto 2001. The same night Adriana Calcanhotto plays the Casa (45 euros), and the Batalha cinema runs a free Halloween film quiz at 22:00 before a surprise film at 23:59. A new production of Verdi's Rigoletto opens at the Coliseu on Thursday 29 October at 21:00. On Halloween afternoon (15:15) anyone arriving at the Batalha in costume sees The Addams Family free. José González plays the Coliseu for Misty Fest on 2 November (30 euros), and Linda Martini play their 2006 debut in full at the Coliseu Box on 11 November. More in our events calendar.

IPMA expects a dry, sunny Monday in Porto with a high of 21 degrees, a 59 percent chance of rain on Tuesday, then dry days near 19 degrees to Thursday. The clocks went back an hour overnight.

Feature image: Casa da Música, Porto, by I.shevtsov, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.