40°C+ this weekend. The government is considering "drastic decisions."

The government is considering "drastic decisions" ahead of a 40°C+ heatwave. It arrives this weekend. It's Friday, 19 June. Twenty-eight degrees and climbing. Here's what you need to know.

🌬️ AIR QUALITY: 22 (Good).

🗞️ TOP STORY

THE GOVERNMENT IS CONSIDERING "DRASTIC DECISIONS" AS TEMPERATURES HEAD PAST 40°C THIS WEEKEND.

Interior Minister Luís Neves said yesterday that the government may need to make "drastic decisions" as a severe heatwave approaches the Portuguese mainland. Temperatures are forecast to exceed 40°C in parts of the interior over the coming days, with Lisbon expected to hit the mid-to-high 30s through the weekend and into next week.

The phrase "drastic decisions" is deliberate. It signals measures beyond the standard IPMA warnings and could include outdoor work restrictions during peak hours, capacity limits at beaches, activation of emergency wildfire protocols, or adjustments to public services. The government has not confirmed specifics, but Neves made clear that all options are on the table.

The timing matters. Fire season is already underway. The GNR deployed 28 surveillance drones for wildfire detection this month. Portugal's 2025 fire season burned over 200,000 hectares. The 2017 fire season killed 117 people. Every heatwave in Portugal carries wildfire risk, and the interior regions forecast to exceed 40°C are the same regions where fires have historically been most destructive.

For Lisbon, the heatwave means a weekend of staying cool or leaving the city. The beaches at Costa da Caparica will be packed. The river beaches further north and inland offer an alternative (the free River Beaches app maps over 130 freshwater swimming spots across the country). Museums are air-conditioned. Parks are shaded. The hours between 1pm and 4pm are the ones to avoid being outdoors if possible.

IPMA placed all districts at "very high" UV risk earlier this month. That warning intensifies this weekend. Sunburn in under 15 minutes without protection. Dehydration risk is real, especially for children, elderly people, and outdoor workers. If you're going to the beach, go early, bring water, and leave before the peak.

The Lisbon metro and buses are air-conditioned. The trams are not. Plan accordingly.

Bottom line: The heatwave arrives this weekend and the government is signalling that normal measures may not be enough. Check IPMA daily. Stay hydrated. And if the government announces outdoor restrictions, take them seriously. Portugal's relationship with extreme heat is measured in lives, not discomfort.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Montenegro introduced a windfall profits tax on energy companies in parliament yesterday. The bill, first announced in May, would tax excess profits from energy firms during periods of elevated prices. Energy costs are up 13.1% this year. Diesel has been above €2 per litre for months. The politics of high energy prices now have a policy response.

Legal experts are calling parts of the labour reform "draconian." Portugal Resident reported yesterday that lawyers have raised specific constitutional concerns about provisions in the Trabalho XXI bill, going beyond union objections into formal legal analysis of worker protections being stripped. The bill is in parliamentary committee.

A free app maps over 130 river beaches across Portugal. With the coast about to be overwhelmed and temperatures heading past 40°C, the River Beaches app is the local alternative most expats don't know about. Mountain pools, forested rivers, and freshwater swimming an hour or two from Lisbon. No crowds. No parking wars. No sand in your shoes.

Your muscles rebuild when you’re sleeping, and not getting enough sleep can affect your post-workout recovery. CBDistillery’s sleep products are formulated to support your sleep naturally; in a 2021 study, participants reported sleeping an hour longer on average after taking CBDistillery’s combination of CBD and CBN. Save 25% with code SLEEPMORE.

Support Your Sleep

A quick note: Today's ad is from our network partner CBDistillery. If it catches your eye, consider giving it a click. Those clicks directly support The Lisbon Letter and help us keep delivering free daily news, recommendations, and local discoveries to our community every morning. It takes a second, and it goes a surprisingly long way. Thanks for being part of this.

🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

DAMAS (GRAÇA)

At the top of Rua da Voz do Operário in Graça, in a building that used to be a bakery and before that a neighbourhood social club, two women who met working at Chapitô opened a bar in 2015 and turned it into one of the most interesting rooms in the city.

Damas is three things at once: a restaurant during the day, a bar in the evening, and a concert venue at night. The kitchen runs a short, daily-changing menu of three or four dishes built around whatever is fresh. The cooking is fusion in the best sense: influences from Portuguese, African, and Asian traditions landing on the same plate without trying to impress. The chocolate brownie with ice cream is the dessert that gets mentioned in every review for a reason. The natural wine list is taken seriously, rotating Portuguese and European low-intervention bottles that pair well with the food's acidity and umami.

The concert programme is the reason many people discover Damas and the reason they come back. Most nights there's something on: jazz, electronic, African beats, punk, experimental, or the monthly Afrobaile party that fills the room and spills onto the street. Entry to most shows is free. The music starts late and on Fridays the bar runs until 4am.

The room itself is the former social club stripped back to its bones. High ceilings, scuffed floors, the architecture of a space that was built for community and still operates as one. The crowd is young, local, creative, and international in roughly equal measure. On a Friday night, the mix of people eating petiscos, drinking natural wine, and waiting for the music to start creates an atmosphere that expensive bars spend fortunes trying to manufacture and never get close to.

The honest notes: it can get crowded on weekends (the bouncer starts turning people away around 2am). The smoking section is mentioned in reviews as a negative. Service can slow when the room fills. Book for dinner or arrive early for a table.

→ A restaurant, bar, and concert hall in a former bakery in Graça. Find them here ←

Graça, on Rua da Voz do Operário.

Insider tip: Go for dinner at 8pm. Eat whatever the kitchen made that day. Stay for the music. On a Friday in June, in Graça, in a room where the concert is free and the natural wine is good, there is no better way to start the weekend.

📅 WHAT'S ON

See you tomorrow morning. Stay Cool.