Events in the year 2002 in Portugal.
Incumbents
President: Jorge Sampaio
Prime Minister: António Guterres (Socialist) (until 6 April); José Manuel Barroso (PSD) (starting 6 April)
Events
January to March
1 January – Euro banknotes and coins enter circulation with a conversion rate of $200.5 for every €1, with both the escudo and the euro being legal tender until 28 February. The BBC reports that by 5 January the euro is the chosen currency for over half of all transactions. 18 January – Nurse Maria do Ceu Ribeiro is sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after performing more than 100 illegal abortions over fifteen years in the town of Maia. The four-month trial also concludes with Ribeiro being found guilty of the illegal use of anaesthetics and for falsifying prescriptions.
30 January – The European Commission advises that the Portuguese government be formally cautioned over its increasing budget deficit, which grew to 2.2% of GDP in 2001, double the 1.1% that was forecast. 8 February – The $1.7bn Alqueva dam begins operation on the Guadiana river at the Évora–Beja district border, starting the process of creating a reservoir which will become Europe's largest artificial lake. 18 February – Data from the Instituto Nacional de Estatística reveals there was a marginal rise in the national unemployment rate in 2001 to 4.1%, an increase of 0.1% compared to 2000. 17 March – Legislative election: The Social Democratic Party (PSD) led by José Manuel Barroso defeats the governing Socialist Party to become the largest party in the Assembly of the Republic with 40.1% of the vote and 105 seats. Short of an overall majority in the 230-seat Assembly, the PSD enters into a coalition alongside the CDS – People's Party with Barroso nominated by President Jorge Sampaio to lead the government as the next Prime Minister.
April to June
6 April – José Manuel Barosso is sworn in as Prime Minister of Portugal as the head of a coalition between the PSD and the CDS – People's Party, with the leader of the latter party, Paulo Portas, becoming the new Defence Minister. 28 April – In association football, Sporting Lisbon secure the 2001–02 Primeira Liga title after championship rivals Boavista F.C. are defeated by S.L. Benfica. 7 May – The 2002 Globos de Ouro media awards ceremony is held with Manoel de Oliveira's Vou Para Casa winning the prize for Best Film. 17 May – Proposals to renovate the former Lisbon headquarters of the Estado Novo security agency and secret police PIDE into luxury accommodation attract criticism from anti-fascist campaigners, who express concerns that historic acts of torture committed on-site against political opponents by PIDE's secret police will go unrecognised in the building's new guise. 20 May - The former colony of Portuguese Timor in southeast Asia becomes the independent country of East Timor, bringing to a close 24 years of Indonesian occupation since the end of Portuguese rule in 1975. 13 June – In association football, the Portugal national team are eliminated from the 2002 FIFA World Cup after a 1–0 loss to co-hosts South Korea in the round of sixteen. Manager Antonio Oliveira is later dismissed from his position on 25 June after failing to perform to expectations. 25 June – Six people are arrested after police raid an address in Albufeira suspected of manufacturing and supplying ecstasy. The culmination of a year-long investigation, almost 83,000 ecstasy tablets are seized in what is Portugal's first instance of police dismantling a drugs factory.
July to September
15 August – In cycling, Denmark's Claus Møller wins the 2002 Volta a Portugal in a time of 47 hours, 51 minutes and 33 seconds, beating his Milaneza–MSS teammate Joan Horrach by a margin of five seconds. 8 September – In motor racing, Italy's Valentino Rossi wins the 2002 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix held at the Circuito do Estoril.