Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced on Tuesday that the Council of Ministers had formally approved an extraordinary €500 million emergency financial package to rebuild northern and central municipalities ravaged by catastrophic wildfires over the past fortnight.

Addressing reporters at the official São Bento residence in Lisbon, Montenegro emphasized that the comprehensive relief framework was designed to provide immediate, non-bureaucratic assistance to displaced residents, family farmers, and commercial business owners.

Immediate Cash Grants and Reconstruction Support for Devastated Families

The devastating fires, which scorched more than 120,000 hectares across the districts of Aveiro, Viseu, Coimbra, and Porto, claimed multiple lives—including heroic volunteer firefighters—while incinerating dozens of residential properties and heavily damaging industrial parks.

Under the approved measures, families whose primary residences were destroyed will receive up to 100% state-funded reconstruction support up to established thresholds, alongside direct emergency living allowances to cover temporary rental accommodations and essential household replacements.

“We cannot bring back the lives tragically lost, but the state will not abandon our citizens. This €500 million package guarantees that every affected family will rebuild their home and every impacted business will reopen.”

Long-Term Structural Reforms to Combat Flammable Eucalyptus Monocultures

For local businesses, the Portuguese government established subsidized credit lines and targeted tax deferrals, ensuring that manufacturing enterprises and agricultural cooperatives can restore operations and safeguard regional employment without enduring insolvency.

Montenegro also announced structural ecological reforms, creating a dedicated multidisciplinary agency tasked with accelerating the removal of highly flammable eucalyptus monocultures and expanding native oak, chestnut, and cork oak buffer zones around vulnerable rural villages.

Sources

Luís Montenegro Portugal Wildfires Disaster Relief Forestry European Union