Portugal Safety and Security Report Wednesday 15^th October 2025

Good afternoon. If you have been monitoring the weather forecasts over the last week, you will see that whereas Portugal has had generally fine weather, this is not the case with our neighbours Spain. Yesterday AEMET raised to a red level warning for torrential rain in the south of the province of Valencia, in effect until at least 15:00 (local time).

The best news is the announcement by Civil Protection is that no one is missing, a circumstance almost surprising given the magnitude of the storm and the images of the streets of several municipalities turned into flooded rivers. Despite this, 18 injuries have been reported, one of them seriously injured after falling, fracturing his hip, and being taken to the hospital. The rest received minor treatments. The Generalitat’s Fire Brigade responded to 340 calls between 17:30 on Sunday (Oct 12) and 7:00 (Oct 13). Thirty-one people were rescued, most of them in their cars on flooded roads.

The powerful DANA was an unprecedented event of torrential rain that broke historical records, for instance with 280 l/m2 in Mas de Barberans, Tarragona.

On the 10th October the Region of Murcia experienced a complicated day due to the heavy rainfall caused by DANA Alice, especially along the Cartagena coast, where up to 120 l/m2 accumulated in just a few hours. Due to this situation, 101 people were forced to evacuate from a campsite that was at risk of flooding, as well as residents of the Bahía Bella and La Algameca residential areas, who were also affected by accumulated rain.

We advise, therefore,  those travelling to parts of Spain, especially areas that have a history of intense rain to check forecasts carefully before heading out. We publish heavy rain and storm warnings on this page and in more detail on our Facebook Group “Safe Communities Portugal Protection again Natural Hazards.

CP railways has opened an investigation, following “internal procedures”, to determine “possible causes and possible improvement actions” that led to Monday’s incident in which an Intercidades (Inter City) train lost one of its carriages midway through a journey between Lisbon and Faro.

CP in a statement said that “Passenger safety was not affected, as the trains are designed to brake and immobilize vehicles in these situations, as happened,” CP said. As for the passengers, they were “safely taken to the remaining carriages” and, “after checking all the carriages and their safety conditions, the train continued its journey to Faro”.

Publico stated: “There were no injuries, nor is the situation potentially very dangerous, as a broken coupling causes a rupture in the main brake line, bringing the train to an immediate stop. On all CP trains, the carriages are always connected by automatic brake lines. If the train accidentally splits (as was the case with the coupling break), both separate sections of the train stop automatically, regardless of the line’s gradient”. “Everything indicates that some maintenance failure led to the coupler’s failure, as CP has been having difficulty performing general overhauls on its carriages. Currently, one in five Intercidades carriages is parked in workshops awaiting maintenance or repairs”.

It is important that the investigation is completed quickly and thoroughly given the large number of passengers that travel daily on the Inter City trains throughout the mainland.

Lastly please remember that the fire risk remains very high in places so we much not be complacent when it comes to fire prevention. The ground is still very dry in some places and yesterday much of the mainland had a minimum relativity of under 30%. Remember a small spark can cause a very large fire. Follow the regulations in place.

Have a good week ahead 

News:

CP opens investigation to “determine the causes” of “anomaly” that separated train carriage

In a clarification to SIC, CP confirmed the incident that occurred this Monday at “around 4 pm” indicating that the train in question “had an anomaly when leaving Grândola station”.

CP has opened an investigation, following “internal procedures”, to determine “possible causes and possible improvement actions” that led to Monday’s incident in which an Intercidades train lost one of its carriages midway through a journey between Lisbon and Faro.

In a clarification to SIC, CP confirmed the incident that occurred this Monday “around 4 pm” indicating that the train in question “had an anomaly when leaving Grândola station”.

The problem was caused by “a rupture in the coupling between two trains, which resulted in the train’s carriages separating.” According to the company, “there are no previous records of this failure occurring in the mechanical element that broke.”

“Passenger safety was not affected, as the trains are designed to brake and immobilize vehicles in these situations, as happened,” CP said.

As for the passengers, they were “safely taken to the remaining carriages” and, “after checking all the carriages and their safety conditions, the train continued its journey to Faro”.

As for the carriage that separated from the train, the company indicates that “it was rescued in Grândola with the help of a Medway locomotive”.

The company guarantees that “periodic maintenance of all rolling stock is scrupulously carried out by the company” and the inspection plan “is being carried out as planned”.

As reported this morning, the Aircraft and Railway Accident Prevention and Investigation Office has also opened an investigation to gather more information about the incident.

According to the newspaper Público, which broke the news this Tuesday, one in every five Intercidades carriages is stopped waiting for maintenance or repairs.

Theranostics: medicine’s latest investment in cancer diagnosis and treatment

It allows doctors to pinpoint the location of tumour cells and deliver radiation treatment to them to kill them. The Porto IPO was the country’s largest medical centre to invest in this technology, with encouraging results for patients.

It’s just a feeling, but exactly the one you’re looking for after years of cancer treatments. “I think my disease has practically disappeared with this treatment,” Albano Soares tells SIC.

“I’m much better. I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t walk – I went through all those phases – and now I eat, I sleep, I breathe well and I’m much better. I can get dressed by myself and everything, and back then I couldn’t even do that.”

This is a successful case of prostate cancer resulting from a nuclear medicine therapeutic and diagnostic approach: theranostics. This is a highly personalized approach to the patient and the tumour. It’s only possible with highly qualified professionals and cutting-edge technology like this Gama Digital Camera. It’s been at the Porto IPO since July and is one of two in the entire country.

But not all cancer patients are suitable for this approach. For now, the radiopharmaceuticals prepared here at the Porto IPO are used as a second-line treatment for neuroendocrine tumours and as a last-line treatment for prostate tumours.

The Porto IPO’s investment in the theranostics field has already exceeded five million euros. It was the Portuguese unit that invested most heavily in this area. Last year, Porto’s nuclear medicine service performed approximately 16,000 procedures, 300 of which were therapeutic.