LISBON: Portugal’s minority government on Tuesday secured an accord with a far-right party to propose a new law toughening the rules for foreigners to get Portuguese nationality, officials said.
A first vote on the law was to be held in parliament later Tuesday following the accord with the far-right Chega party.
The law will notably extend the time required to acquire Portuguese nationality, said Hugo Soares, head of the governing coalition in parliament.
“Portugal today joins the group of European countries where it will be more difficult to obtain nationality,” said Chega leader Andre Ventura. He said both sides had made “concessions” during months of talks.
Chega became the main opposition party in parliament following elections in May last year after which center-right leader Luis Montenegro returned as prime minister but without a governing majority.
Chega has aggressively campaigned against immigration, seizing on figures that said at the end of 2024 there were more than 1.5 million foreigners in Portugal, nearly four times more than in 2017 and making up about 15 percent of the population.
Portugal government agrees with far right to toughen nationality rules
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Portugal government agrees with far right to toughen nationality rules
- The law will notably extend the time required to acquire Portuguese nationality, said Soares
- Ventura said both sides had made “concessions” during months of talks
Spanish police arrest 3 men for shipping dried opium poppy by mail
- The investigation began in September 2025 after the interception of four postal shipments
- Analysis determined that the substance was “Papaver somniferum,” also known as opium poppy
MADRID: Spanish police announced Saturday they arrested three men on suspicion of shipping dried opium poppy capsules by mail across Spain and abroad, including to the United States.
The three were arrested in January and have remained in custody since then, the Civil Guard said in a statement. They were charged with crimes against public health for drug trafficking.
The investigation began in September 2025 after the interception of four postal shipments containing almost 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds) of plant-based substances at the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport, the gateway to Alicante and the Costa Blanca area in southeastern Spain.
Analysis determined that the substance was “Papaver somniferum,” also known as opium poppy, a plant directly linked to the production of opium and its derivatives, the statement said.
Investigators noted that the same surname was used on all the shipments, both for the senders and recipients. It was also verified that all the packages had been sent from different addresses, located in the municipality of Los Alcázares, in the Murcia region.
The operation led to the identification of three men from the same clan, all born in India, who were arrested and a stash of 527 kilograms (about 1,161 pounds) of Papaver somniferum was seized.
After consulting police databases, investigators verified that the three men had been linked to recent thefts of opium poppy from legal plantations intended for pharmaceutical use and located in the province of Albacete.
“In Spain there are legal crops of this plant intended for pharmaceutical use,” said Guardia Civil spokesman Álvaro Gallardo. “But there are many people who extract opium completely illegally for consumption or trafficking, something dangerous if done uncontrollably, since it is a narcotic substance.”
The three detainees were brought before the investigating court of the judicial district of Elche, which ordered their imprisonment.
