Shoemaker Pontual closes for good, affecting 54 jobs

Management of the Pontual shoe factory, founded in 1948 in the Avintes district of Vila Nova de Gaia, has confirmed the plant's definitive closure; the insolvency petition was filed in court on Tuesday, 4 August 2026. The workforce — 54 employees according to the company, around 60 according to Bloco de Esquerda and the PCP, some with 45 years of service — was told at the end of the Friday shift on 31 July 2026 that they would not be returning; July wages and holiday pay went unpaid. The plant had most recently been producing about 600 pairs of shoes a day and had received EUR 37,120 in funding from Portugal's PRR recovery plan; BE, PCP and PS tabled parliamentary questions to the government on 6 August 2026.