2005 in Portugal


Events in the year 2005 in Portugal.

Incumbents

Events

January to March

April to June

  • 17 April – In motor racing, Brazil's Alex Barros wins the 2005 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix held at the Circuito do Estoril.
  • 22 May – In association football, Benfica wins the 2004–05 Primeira Liga, the club's first league title for eleven years.
  • 25 May – Prime Minister José Socrates introduces a series of tax rises designed to limit the country's expanding budget deficit, which this year is forecast to reach than double the accepted limit for Eurozone countries. Among the changes are higher levies on fuel and tobacco, an increase in the top rate of VAT from 19% to 21%, and a one-time income tax rise to those earning more than €60,000 per year.
  • 29 May – In association football, Vitória de Setúbal defeats Benfica by a score of 2–1 to win the final of the Taça de Portugal. It the first time the club has won the tournament in 38 years.
  • 6 June – With river levels falling amid the country's worst drought in 60 years, the government requests €6 million in compensation from Spain after accusing the Spanish authorities of over-extracting water from the Douro river upstream of Portuguese territory.
  • 10 June – A mass group of approximately 500 youths clash with police on a beach in Carcavelos after earlier robbing beachgoers, causing injuries to five people.
  • 17 June – Prime Minister José Socrates announces that a planned referendum on the proposed constitution for the European Union will be postponed from its scheduled October date. The decision comes after European leaders confirm that the deadline for the constitution's ratification will be delayed until 2007 at the earliest.

July to September

  • 30 July – The final edition of the Comércio do Porto newspaper is published following sustained losses by owner Prensa Ibérica, ending more than 150 years of continuous publication dating back to 1854.
  • 20 August – A wildfire ignites near the city of Coimbra, destroying of forest and grassland. By 23 August the fire spreads to the outskirts of the city, forcing a small number of precautionary evacuations.

October to December

  • 3 October – A solar eclipse visible over much of the country occurs, the first seen over Portuguese skies in the 21st century. The phenomena experienced varies across the country, with northern areas observing an annular eclipse and the rest of the nation as far south as Funchal witnessing a partial eclipse.
  • 18 October – Police raid the homes of several key employees of the Banco Espírito Santo and the Banco Comercial Português as part of an investigation by state prosecutors into alleged tax evasion and money laundering. Estimates given by investigators suggest that the amount transferred by the suspects into tax havens to avoid VAT and income tax charges totals several million euros.
  • 18 November – An explosion on an International Security Assistance Force patrol outside the Afghan capital of Kabul kills one Portuguese soldier and injures three more. The fatality is named as Sergeant Joao Pereira, who becomes the 25th ISAF soldier to be killed in Afghanistan in 2005.
  • 23 December – Five people are killed and 43 are injured after a bus carrying Italian tourists crashes in Sao Vicente in northern Madeira.
  • 24 December – Culture minister Isabel Pires de Lima confirms that a collection of more than 4,000 artworks owned by businessman José Berardo will be publicly exhibited at the Belem Cultural Centre in Lisbon. The agreement between the government and Berardo comes after seven years of attempted negotiations, in which Berardo threatened to house the collection outside of Portugal.

Arts and entertainment

Music

Film

Sports

Football (soccer) competitions: Primeira Liga, Liga de Honra

Deaths