Yesterday, TAP ran a minimum service of around 79 flights out of a scheduled 380. The Metro shut for over 31 hours.

Yesterday, TAP ran a minimum service of around 79 flights out of 380. The Metro shut for 31 hours. Here's what happened, and what comes next. It's Thursday, 4 June. Corpus Christi. Public holiday. Twenty-four degrees.

🌬️ AIR QUALITY: 22 (Good).

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WHAT YESTERDAY'S STRIKE ACTUALLY DID. THE NUMBERS ARE IN.

Portugal's second general strike in six months hit harder than the first. TAP operated just 79 flights under minimum service rules, cancelling roughly 300. Cabin crew absence reached 79%. Air Europa cancelled every flight between Madrid and Lisbon/Porto. Etihad pulled its Abu Dhabi route. Lufthansa, British Airways, and Air France all took significant hits, disrupting European connecting itineraries across the board.

On the ground, the Lisbon Metro shut at 11pm on Tuesday night and did not reopen until 6:30am this morning, a 31.5-hour blackout. CP trains were severely disrupted across suburban and intercity lines. Carris buses, trams, Transtejo/Soflusa ferries, and Fertagus suburban rail all ran reduced or no services. Porto Metro and STCP buses were also hit.

The CGTP called it a success. The government called it an expression of democratic rights while reaffirming its commitment to the labour reform. Neither side moved.

The question now is what comes next. Airlines warned that today's schedules may still be disrupted as aircraft and crew reposition from yesterday's cancellations. If you're flying today, check your flight status before leaving for the airport. The AIMA strike resumes tomorrow (Friday June 5) and the agency remains effectively closed through the weekend, reopening Monday June 8.

The Trabalho XXI bill is now in parliamentary committee. The PS, Chega, Livre, and PCP all have positions. The debate will run through June and into July. President Seguro's veto pledge hangs over every vote. And the unions have already signalled that if the bill passes without substantial modification, more strikes are on the table.

December's general strike cancelled roughly 400 TAP flights. Yesterday's cancelled 300 but with broader transport disruption. The trajectory is clear: each stoppage is more coordinated, more disruptive, and harder to dismiss.

Bottom line: The strike is over. The disruption is still unwinding. The political fight is just beginning. If you work in Portugal, the labour reform will change the rules you operate under. Watch the parliamentary debate. It matters more than the strike did.

⚡ QUICK HITS

It's Corpus Christi. Here's what's closed. Banks, government offices, post offices, and most shops outside tourist areas and shopping centres are shut today. Museums are mixed: check individually before you go. Restaurants in central Lisbon are mostly open. Supermarkets in malls are open. If you need a pharmacy, the rotating "farmácia de serviço" system means at least one in your area is open. Check farmaciaservico.net.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh wrapped up their visit yesterday. The 640th anniversary of the Treaty of Windsor celebration ended on the same day the country shut down for a general strike. The Duke met with business leaders, visited the Oceanário, and attended diplomatic events across three days. The oldest alliance in the world held up fine. The transport system did not.

Airlines warned today's flights may still be disrupted. Aircraft and crew are being repositioned after yesterday's cancellations. Check your flight status directly with your airline before heading to the airport, especially if you're on a TAP, Lufthansa, or British Airways connection that transited through Lisbon yesterday.

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

CAFÉ A BRASILEIRA (CHIADO)

It's a public holiday. Half the city is closed. The Metro just came back. And the most famous café in Lisbon has been open since 8am, as it has been every day since 1905.

You've walked past Café A Brasileira. Everyone who lives in Chiado has. The green and gold Art Nouveau façade on Rua Garrett. The bronze statue of Fernando Pessoa sitting at a terrace table, permanently ready for a coffee he will never drink. The tourists posing next to him. The queue that forms on the pavement every afternoon. You've seen all of it and you've never gone in because you assumed it was a tourist trap.

It isn't. Or rather, it is a tourist destination that also happens to be a genuinely good café with 121 years of history and an interior that rewards the price of a bica.

Adriano Telles opened A Brasileira in 1905 to sell Brazilian coffee to Lisbon. The architect Manuel Norte Júnior designed the façade and the interiors. The café is credited with introducing the "bica" (espresso) to Lisbon, a claim that, true or not, has been repeated so often it has become fact. Within a decade, the café was the meeting point for Lisbon's literary and artistic elite. Pessoa came. Almada Negreiros came. The revolutionaries who established the Republic in 1910 met here. The walls heard more subversive ideas per square metre than any parliament building in the country.

The interior is the reason to go. Art Deco green and gold throughout. Mosaic floors. Brass fixtures. Painted ceilings. Sculpted wooden walls. Glass panels. Candlesticks. It looks like a café that was designed to impress people in 1905 and has succeeded every day since.

The coffee is strong, fast, and Portuguese. The pastéis de nata are decent but not the best in the city (you already know where to go for that). The prices vary depending on where you sit: cheapest at the bar, more expensive at a table inside, most expensive on the terrace. This is standard for Lisbon but catches visitors off guard.

On a Corpus Christi Thursday when the rest of the city is closed, A Brasileira is the right answer. Sit next to Pessoa. Order a bica. Look at the ceiling. That's a public holiday morning for under €3 that connects you to 121 years of the city's cultural life.

→ The most famous café in Lisbon. Open since 1905. Find them here ←

Chiado, on Rua Garrett.

Insider tip: Stand at the bar. Order a bica. Drink it in 30 seconds. That's how Lisbon drinks coffee and it costs about half what the terrace charges. If you want to sit, go inside rather than outside. The interior is the point. The terrace is for the photograph.

📅 WHAT'S ON

See you tomorrow morning.