Why Portugal burns each year
Fragmented forest ownership among some 400,000 proprietors, many unsure how to manage their land, keeps fuelling Portugal's recurring wildfires. The ICNF lacks precise data on how many forest owners there even are.
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22 June 2026
Bom dia! Today we follow the land and the water - from family orchards in Madeira to forests and beaches that need our care, with a few hopeful steps toward greener living along the way.
El Nino may sharpen extremes
ZERO warns that a likely return of El Nino this summer could indirectly worsen heatwaves, drought and fire risk already felt in Portugal. The WMO puts the odds of a new episode at around 80%.
Sewage on Funchal's coast
The CDU protested at Praia Formosa over reported daily sewage discharges, citing analyses that place these among Portugal's most polluted bathing waters. The party demands an overhaul of the city's sanitation network.
More beaches with poor water
Portugal's bathing waters rated poor rose from nine to twelve in 2025, mostly inland river beaches. Still, 82% were classified excellent, and ZERO notes drought may worsen river sites.
A sea of glass near Evora
Plans for three solar farms across some 1,700 hectares near Evora worry heritage experts who fear lasting damage to the UNESCO World Heritage landscape. Critics call for a heritage impact assessment and question the developers' ability to decommission the infrastructure later.
2 million euros for small farms in Madeira
Madeira's Regional Government is opening a PEPAC funding call of around 2 million euros to modernise small and family farming, prioritising irrigation and water efficiency. Grants can cover up to 70% of eligible investment, with clarification sessions across all municipalities.
More homes for VRSA families
Vila Real de Santo Antonio will add 114 new affordable rental homes funded by the PRR, alongside the rehabilitation of 143 social housing units. In total the municipality plans to renew 372 homes in its largest-ever housing operation.
Cascais railway and free travel
The mayor of Cascais welcomed the subconcession of the Cascais railway line and called for free travel for residents, workers and students. Requalification works are due by the end of 2026, with new trains arriving afterwards.
Who pays for charging an EV?
As electric cars grow in Portugal, a new decree clarifies that the costs of installing and using an individual charger fall on the resident who uses it. The condominium only pays if it approves a collective solution or if charging is tied to unmetered common services.
The father's cherries, still on the same street
In Jardim da Serra, Fernanda Paulos tends the orchard her father once cultivated, selling cherries on the same street for about a decade. Their story echoes the 72nd Festa da Cereja, Madeira's oldest themed agricultural fair.
Mediterranean Diet innovation prize
The Mediterranean Diet Fair in Tavira returns with an innovation prize, this year open to all Algarve producers regardless of fair participation. It rewards agri-food products that boost competitiveness, sustainability and local resources.
Music, castles and forests in the Alentejo
The Terras sem Sombra Festival comes to Gaviao and Belver on 27-28 June, blending classical music, a tour of the medieval Belver Castle and a forestry walk on the challenges facing local woodlands. All activities are free.
A lighter footprint for chicken
Genetic improvement, nutrition and management have cut the environmental footprint of poultry in Portugal over 20 years, with 19% fewer emissions and 28% less excreted nitrates and phosphates. Chicken is now the country's most consumed meat.
Rural ideas on screen
An episode of Faca Chuva Faca Sol gathers sustainability stories, from a Boticas cooperative drying mushrooms to extend their season, to youth in agriculture, a water strategy seminar and persimmon growing in the Algarve.
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A short read every morning — what's happening across sustainable Portugal.
Recent
- Good morning. Today's Pulse looks at forests, soil and dammed rivers, at how the country moves and what it decides to fund — and ends, as it should, with a 905-kilo pumpkin.
- Today Portugal negotiates with its own landscape: a solar plant shrinks after 12,000 objections, goats are proposed as firefighters, and a Madeiran trail closes for a footbridge. We end on straw roofs and a very clean beach.
- Sunday brings grape harvests and border fairs, a city plan under debate, and a soap factory reborn as student halls. A calm read through the week's quieter shifts.
- Good morning. Today the wild world takes the lead — orcas that touch boats, butterflies judged by their colours, power lines going underground — before we turn to water, waste and the quieter work happening in villages and vineyards.
- A quiet Thursday with plenty to be curious about: glowing salamanders, seahorse shelters made from shopping trolleys, and a country busy with water, wine and housing. Take it at your own pace.
- Good morning. Today's Pulse moves from the land and its restoration to the streets we cross every day, with a fair, a festival and one olive tree per child waiting at the end.
- Good morning. Today's Pulse moves from turtles heading back out to sea to bins that keep overflowing, with a good deal of clever thinking in between.
- Bom dia. Today's Pulse begins underwater, with seahorses making a home out of what we threw away, and ends with markets, gardens and dance floors. In between: the air we breathe, the waste we make, and the fields that feed us.
- Good morning. Today the land does most of the talking: wheat we no longer grow, grapes we do, wolves in the north and a quarry silenced by a court in the Algarve. We close, as ever, with the smaller and warmer things.
- A day that leans on the land: vines recovering from fire, boars at the village edge, and questions about what our fields are for. We close with a fair, a festival and a quiet country house.