Events in the year 2018 in Portugal.
Incumbents
President: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Prime Minister: António Costa (Socialist)
Events
January
14 January: Eight people are killed and a further 35 are injured in a fire at a community centre in the town of Vila Nova da Rainha in Tondela. Rui Rio is elected as the leader of the Social Democratic Party with 54% of the party members' vote, defeating rival candidate and former Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes. The Instituto Nacional de Estatística estimates that the country's GDP growth in 2017 was 2.7%, the highest annual increase since 2000. 15 January – An earthquake with a local magnitude of 4.9 occurs in Arraiolos in the Évora District. Although widely felt across central and southern Portugal, no damage or injuries are reported. 24 January – Prime Minister António Costa announces that Google will open a support centre in Oeiras for its European, African, and Middle Eastern regions later in the year, a move that is expected to create 500 high-skilled technology jobs. 29 January – A 67-year-old man is shot and killed at a school in Nazaré following a dispute between the family members of two students.
February
1 February – The largest in a series of aftershocks from the 15 January earthquake occurs in Arraiolos with a local magnitude of 3.1. Unlike the earlier earthquake, its effects are largely confined to Arraiolos area. 9–25 February – Portugal contests the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang with a delegation comprising cross-country skier Kequyen Lam and alpine skier Arthur Hanse.
March
15 March – One person is killed and another is injured after a rockslide falls on a group of tourists camping on a beach less than one mile north of Cape Roca. The incident comes one night after the passing of Storm Gisele over the area, which authorities cite as the cause of the subsequent cliffside instability. 25 March – Approximately 67,500 trees are planted by 3,000 volunteers in Leiria, marking the start of a reforestation project to repair a 13th-century pine forest badly affected by the wildfires in October 2017 which killed 49 people.
April
4 April – Redes Energéticas Nacionais announces that the electricity demand of the nation was met entirely by renewable energy in March, the first time this has been recorded in Portugal in the 21st century. 13 April – MPs in the Assembly of the Republic approve a law allowing individuals to change their gender on legal documents from the age of sixteen without the need of a medical report.
May
5 May – In association football, F.C. Porto win the 2017–18 Primeira Liga after their title rivals S.L. Benfica and Sporting Lisbon draw 0–0, leaving the club with an unassailable points lead with two games of the season remaining. It is the club's first league championship in five years. 10 May – President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa vetoes the gender change law passed by MPs on 13 April, citing concerns about the proposed lack of medical consultations for those aged between sixteen and eighteen. An amended proposal acceding to Rebelo de Sousa's wishes is later passed by the Assembly in July. 12 May – Lisbon hosts the final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest following the victory of Portugal's Salvador Sobral in the previous year's contest. Israel's Netta Barzilai is voted as the winner. 15 May – Approximately 50 masked intruders gain access the training centre of football club Sporting Lisbon, inflicting minor injuries to players and staff and causing minor damage to facilities. 20 May – In motor racing, Belgium's Thierry Neuville wins the 2018 Rally de Portugal. 29 May – MPs narrowly vote against a bill legalising the voluntary use of euthanasia for consenting terminally-ill patients. Introduced by the Socialist Party and supported by the Left Bloc and a number of Social Democratic MPs, the bill is defeated 115–110 after opposition from the CDS – People's Party and the Communist Party.
June
15 June – MPs pass a bill legalising the use of prescription drugs containing marijuana. 30 June – In association football, Portugal are eliminated from the 2018 FIFA World Cup following a 2–1 loss to Uruguay in the round of 16 at Sochi's Fisht Olympic Stadium.
July
6 July – A bid by the sole MP of the People-Animals-Nature party to ban bullfighting is opposed in the Assembly by 178 votes to 31. 27 July – Prime Minister António Costa agrees a deal with his French and Spanish counterparts for the construction of a new electricity power line under the Bay of Biscay to improve energy links between the three countries. Expected to cost more than €1 billion, the line is forecast to be completed by 2025.