News Highlights

Porto City Hall will hand out 150 thousand discount vouchers to the city traders to compensate them for the pandemic distress. As such, for each 20 euros spent in street trading, traditional trade and local trade, customers will be granted a 2-euro direct rebate.

There are only a few days to go before the final presentation of the municipal programme “Desporto no Bairro, which will join on stage the 35 finalists of the programme, the 10 b-boys and b-girls that monitor the project and the premiere of international band ILL-Abilities in Portugal. Tickets for the show are free, but reservation is mandatory (maximum 2 per person), via the email desporto@agoraporto.pt.

The negative impact of the pandemic is showing of the number of companies and investors, close to one hundred the first week alone, that have requested the specialised service of the support line “Revitaliza Porto”, a free support service launched by the Municipality of Porto, via InvestPorto, whose goal is to support the business community in the city of Porto in the response to the pandemic crisis.

This season, Porto Municipal Theatre (TMP) features both in-person and online performances. The TMP invited eight artists to provide a special artistic creation and offer audiences new insights on the cultural realm. The project is called PAR(S) – Artes Performativas e Imagem Online [Online Performance Arts and Image”, free translation] and it kicks on 1st December, with Cláudia Varejão and Joana Castro, director and choreographer and dancer, respectively.

The Cultura em Expansão will take Santa Claus to the Hard Club, on 29th November, at 11am. The performance “Olá, eu sou o Pai Natal” [“Hi, I’m Santa Claus”, free translation] will be delivered by Tiago Barbosa, who gives the traditional tale a twist. Barbosa will play around the modern character of Santa Claus, based on the historical Saint Nicholas, raising awareness on global issues such as gifts and the consumer society.

STCP bus fleet in Porto will adjust the offer of services on weekends and holidays, starting at 1pm, following the slump in demand of circa 70%. This weekend, the STCP bus fleet implements timetable changes, by reducing 10% the offer of bus services, starting after 1pm on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

This year, the usual collection of food is not possible, owing to the sanitary context; as such, the campaign “Partilhar o Natal” [“Sharing Xmas”, free translation] is aimed at making up for that and advocates for companies and people to donate food and other items.

Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto was a guest speaker at a national television show to discuss the pandemic context of the country. The Mayor advocated that the Government has to further its support to companies and families, to boost recovery and to build a stronger economy for the future, as soon as the health crisis is over.

Porto features the highest proficiency in English at national level, for the second year running, according to an EF- Education First study that discloses Porto not only as the best English speaking city in the country but also the 9th best in the world. The EF English Proficiency Index 2020 Report analysed data from 2.2 million non-native speakers of the English language, in 100 countries and regions.

Porto City Hall got maximum score as regards financial effectiveness and efficiency at national level, according to the Financial Yearbook of Portuguese Municipalities. Also in recent years, as evidenced by previous dossiers, Porto is spotlighted, again, in the annual summary that discloses the management and performance by all the Municipalities in the country. There are 308, in total.