On paper, Portugal is fine. The unemployment rate is low, at 6.4 % of assets. Growth was 1.9 % of the gross domestic product in 2024, with a forecast of 2 % in 2025. Inflation was reduced to 1.9 % in March. Public accounts are straightened, with a tax surplus of 0.7 % and a public debt fell below 100 % (94.9 % in 2024). And, in 2024, the Portuguese disposable income increased by 6.7 %, according to the organization of economic cooperation and development.
However, in the street, on the eve of the anticipated legislative elections of May 18, dissatisfaction rumbles. A public service strike was launched on Friday May 16. Another of the railway employees disrupted the circulation of trains between May 7 and May 14. At the end of April, airport staff and museum and monument officials set out. And, on April 6, a large demonstration brought together thousands of people in Lisbon and Porto to require salary increases by 15 %, but also solutions to the housing crisis, the increase in the number of homeless or even the saturation of the public health system.
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Source: Lemonde