15 January – An earthquake with alocal magnitude of 4.9 occurs inArraiolos in theÉvora District. Although widely felt across central and southern Portugal, no damage or injuries are reported.[4]
24 January – Prime Minister António Costa announces thatGoogle will open a support centre inOeiras for its European, African, and Middle Eastern regions later in the year, a move that is expected to create 500 high-skilled technology jobs.[5]
29 January – A 67-year-old man is shot and killed at a school inNazaré following a dispute between the family members of two students.[6]
1 February – The largest in a series of aftershocks from the 15 January earthquake occurs in Arraiolos with a local magnitude of 3.1. Unlike the earlier earthquake, its effects are largely confined to Arraiolos area.[4]
15 March – One person is killed and another is injured after a rockslide falls on a group of tourists camping on a beach less than one mile north ofCape Roca. The incident comes one night after the passing ofStorm Gisele over the area, which authorities cite as the cause of the subsequent cliffside instability.[8]
25 March – Approximately 67,500 trees are planted by 3,000 volunteers inLeiria, marking the start of a reforestation project to repair a 13th-centurypine forest badly affected by the wildfires in October 2017 which killed 49 people.[9]
4 April –Redes Energéticas Nacionais announces that the electricity demand of the nation was met entirely by renewable energy in March, the first time this has been recorded in Portugal in the 21st century.[10]
13 April – MPs in theAssembly of the Republic approve a law allowing individuals to change their gender on legal documents from the age of sixteen without the need of a medical report.[11]
10 May – President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa vetoes the gender change law passed by MPs on 13 April, citing concerns about the proposed lack of medical consultations for those aged between sixteen and eighteen.[13] An amended proposal acceding to Rebelo de Sousa's wishes is later passed by the Assembly in July.[14]
15 May – Approximately 50 masked intruders gain access the training centre of football clubSporting CP, inflicting minor injuries to players and staff and causing minor damage to facilities.[16]
29 May – MPs narrowly vote against a bill legalising the voluntary use ofeuthanasia for consenting terminally-ill patients. Introduced by the Socialist Party and supported by theLeft Bloc and a number of Social Democratic MPs, the bill is defeated 115–110 after opposition from theCDS – People's Party and theCommunist Party.[18]
27 July – Prime Minister António Costa agrees a deal with his French and Spanish counterparts for the construction of a new electricity power line under theBay of Biscay to improve energy links between the three countries. Expected to cost more than €1 billion, the 370-kilometre (230 mi) line is forecast to be completed by 2025.[22]
A mass of warm air from theSahara causes a heat wave across large parts of Europe in which national temperatures rise above 40°C. A national high of 45.9°C is observed atAlcácer do Sal nearSetúbal on 3 August, a day that sees sixteen weather stations across the country set new local temperature records.[23]
Warm and dry conditions lead to an outbreak of wildfires, with 700 firefighters attending a blaze inMonchique in theAlgarve affecting over 1,000 hectares (3.9 sq mi) of forest.[23][24] On 10 August the fires are extinguished after burning for a week, by which point cooler conditions begin to prevail across southern Portugal.[25]
24 September – Archaeologists announce the discovery of a 400-year old shipwreck off the coast ofCascais thought to have been involved in the trading of spices between Europe and India. Artefacts recovered include a bronze cannon bearing the Portuguese coat of arms and Chinese porcelain dating to the time of theWanli Emperor.[27]
13 October –Storm Leslie passes over north and central Portugal, injuring 27 people and leaving 300,000 homes without power. Hurricane-strength winds of up to 109 miles per hour (175 km/h) uproot trees and cause damage and disruption acrossLisbon and the districts ofLeiria andCoimbra; the districts ofPorto,Aveiro, andViseu to the north are also affected.[29] It is the most powerful storm to hit the country since 1842.[30]
14 October – Prime Minister António Costa undertakes the largest major cabinet reshuffle of his premiership, movingPedro Siza Vieira to theMinistry of Economy and appointing Graca Maria da Fonseca andMarta Temido as Ministers of Culture and Health respectively. Azeredo Lopes, who resigned from his post as the Ministry of National Defence two days earlier, is replaced by Joao Gomes Cravinho.[31]
19 November – The collapse of a road at a quarry in theÉvora District leaves two people dead and a further four missing.[32] Following thirteen days of rescue operations the final death tally is revised to five on 1 December.[33]
14 December – Twenty-eight passengers and pedestrians are injured when a tram derails in Lisbon.[34]
15 December – Four people are killed after aAgustaWestland AW109air ambulance crashes in theValongo municipality following the transfer of a patient to Porto's Santo António Hospital. It is the first incident of its kind involving an emergency medical aircraft ever recorded in the country.[35]
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