When current European Council President António Costa became Portugal’s PM in 2015, the country took pride in being the only European nation without a far-right political presence.
This weekend’s elections have cemented a very different reality.
Center-left candidate António José Seguro will become Portugal’s next president, defeating far-right leader André Ventura by a comfortable margin in runoff elections held in the midst of ongoing storms and floods on Sunday.
www.politico.eu/article/exit...
Because nothing expresses the thrill of love and new beginnings like a slow moving tale of toxic food / relationships.
Reminder that today’s the day to watch that beloved romantic New Year’s Eve film…
̶A̶n̶ ̶A̶f̶f̶a̶i̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶R̶e̶m̶e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶
̶W̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶H̶a̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶M̶e̶t̶ ̶S̶a̶l̶l̶y̶
… PHANTOM THREAD
Cecília Giménez, the octogenarian amateur whose botched restoration of the Ecce Homo fresco made headlines around the world, has died at age 94.
elpais.com/espana/2025-...
Denmark's PostNord is set to deliver its final paper letters on Dec. 30, putting an end to a service first offered in 1624. The company has also spent the past few months uninstalling the country's 1,500 red postboxes, the majority of which are being auctioned off.
www.politico.eu/article/plea...
To sum up: Thank you all for what has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my journalistic career.
You can, as always, revisit our coverage through our hub page: www.politico.eu/livingcities/
See you later, city-lovers 🏙️❤️
It's been an honor to interact with you all, receive your thoughts and feedback, and note your enthusiasm over our weekly riddle — which was nearly always solved within minutes of the newsletter's publication, more often than not by an intimidatingly smart fellow known only as John Beaven of Madrid.
...urbanists, architects, academics, researchers, construction empresarios, civil engineers, students, and a vast array of folks who had nothing to do with city building or management, but simply had a passionate interest in the urban environment that surrounds us.
But my deepest gratitude is for our readers. Our over 60,000 readers include members of the European Commission, lawmakers in the European Parliament, representatives in the Committee of the Regions, national diplomats, ministers, regional governors, mayors and local officials of all sorts...
Thanks as well to the fantastic people like 15-minute city ideas man @carlosmorenofr.bsky.social, Brussels Urbanism czar @anspersoons.bsky.social, Harvard academic Eve Blau and mobility expert @davidzipper.bsky.social, who shared fascinating insights on how our cities work and evolve.
This was a personal passion project that became truly great thanks to the participation of the entire @politico.eu family. I am overwhelmed by their kindness and enthusiasm along the way: if you enjoyed the newsletter, please know it was thanks to their brilliant collaboration.
...my tireless current editor Leyla Aksu and ever-present producer Giulia Poloni, emeritus editors @jamesranderson.bsky.social, @esthermavis.bsky.social, @kelseylh.bsky.social, and the support of editors-in-chief Jamil Anderlini and the late, great Stephen Brown, a champion of this project.
It's been a pleasure to helm this deep dive into Europe's cities, this exploration of what works / what doesn't, this multi-year love letter to the urban landscape that surrounds us. This project couldn't have happened without my mentor @stephanfaris.bsky.social, my co-author @gi-coi.bsky.social...
And our cities are all the more wonderful because they are ultimately the locations where the vast majority of Europeans have the greatest access to the hardfought welfare state's services and the EU-funded public infrastructure that foster thriving communities.
And after years of stagnation, the past few decades have been especially inspiring, because they've seen a cross-continental urban renaissance led by local administrations making concerted efforts to reclaim and revive public spaces.
By virtue of this history, many of the places we call home also predate the postwar period’s car-centric urban design, which have made city life increasingly unhealthy and socially isolated in other parts of the world.
While it's important to remain ambitious, it's also good to periodically take a pause and recognize how incredibly lucky we European city-dwellers are. Our corner of the world has a rich history, enabling us to live among — and often within — spectacularly beautiful buildings.
As Committee of the Regions President Kata Tüttő said in an interview with us last week, to remain globally relevant, the EU needs to think locally and ensure our cities are economically dynamic, climate resilient, open-minded and accommodating spaces where Europeans can continue to thrive.
The European Commission’s Cities Agenda recognizes its urban centers — the places three-quarters of the population calls home — as the stage on which the European project will thrive or fail. Our cities are a microcosm of the EU, and a canary in the coalmine when it comes to the challenges we face.
And our section identified the rising price of housing as a key political issue in Europe — one which the far-right was harnessing to make electoral strides — significantly before it became the headline dominating crisis that led to this week's roll-out of the first-ever EU Affordable Housing Plan.
We reported on local elections that reflected national tendencies — like our article on how Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's unpopularity was dooming the then-mayor of Seville's reelection odds, or our recent piece on how Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats were losing Copenhagen.
...reported on municipal authorities continued failure make urban landscapes accessible for people with disabilities and contrasted the architectural legacy of Lisbon’s long-gone factories with the modern-day Danish boomtowns funded by Ozempic.
Over the course of the project, we’ve looked at how communities are changing thanks to approaches like the 15-minute city scheme (and the backlash against it), anticipated tragedies like the deadly Valencia floods with our report on urban expansion into Olbia’s floodplains...
This week we wrapped our nearly four-year run of @politico.eu's Living Cities, our long-running exploration of Europeans' relationship with the cities in which they live. In our final issue, we reflect on the state of Europe’s cities and how they can be even greater.
www.politico.eu/newsletter/g...
While much of the plan will consist of recommendations member countries aren’t required to implement, Jørgensen warned against ignoring them. “Take this problem seriously,” he urged leaders, or accept disgruntled voters will “hand over power to the populists.”
- Tracking of the speculative trends that have led homes to be seen not as vital shelters for Europeans, but commodities with which to get rich.
- A new construction strategy to cut red tape and create common standards.
- A bid to ensure the rights of Europe’s homeless are respected.
What to expect:
- Revised state-aid rules to funnel public cash into housing projects.
- New tools national, regional and local governments can use to target the short-term rentals that are exacerbating the shortage of homes in places like Barcelona, Prague and Copenhagen.
This week, Brussels lays out its ambition to do something about the bloc-wide housing crisis with the EU's first-ever Affordable Housing Plan. In an exclusive interview with me in @politico.eu, Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen previewed the policy package.
www.politico.eu/article/brus...
For decades, the EU’s view on housing has been simple: not our problem. Now all the institutions are determined to take on the housing crisis, but different views on how much Brussels should intervene could lead to clashes between the Commission and EU leaders. Story:
www.politico.eu/article/the-...
