Author - Mercadia

1- Casa da Companhia hotel
Opening July, 5 2021, Casa da Companhia is synonymous with history and tradition in the city of Porto. With a strong connection to wine, conviviality and high quality standards. The prime location in the historic centre of Porto, in the prestigious Rua das Flores (Flowers Street), just 5 minutes walking distance from São Bento Station and next to the main city attractions, you´ll find Casa da Companhia: a truly unique hotel for those who quality and comfort with historical roots are really valuable. The 40 unique rooms and suites includes. Among Casa da Companhia hotel’s facilities are Restaurant & Bar, Indoor swimming pool, Turkish Bath, Sauna, Massages & Gym.
Website: www.casadacompanhia.com

2- FONTINHA hotel
FONTINHA hotel, the 4-star hotel in Porto is officially open on July, 19 2021, is now accepting reservations. The hotel located in the corner of the Fontinhas area and near the Santa Catarina street, one of the most popular streets of Porto for shopping and just a few minutes away from the famous Majestic Café, the 49 rooms & Bar decorated in tones of white, beige and brown which contrast with nature image and patterns. The Wood elements combined with the textured walls provide the same sense of comfort as you would find at home.
Website: www.fontinhahotel.com
The hotel offers special discount for the potential investors or current investors of Mercan Group that book the rooms through our team.

Mercan Group calling investment hotel project in the historic district of Lapa since January, with total 56 million euros investment amount deserved a symbolic action to launch the “first stone”. The project will provide 17,700 square meters to the city for the construction of an urban park and public infrastructure.

For the vice-president of the Chamber of Porto, “it is important to highlight the importance of this investment , a real estate investment, which stimulates the economy and made in our city.

“The dynamics of the private sector is fundamental for us to proceed with an economic recovery that is positive for the city and for the people of Porto, leveraging the economy”, said Filipe Araúj – CEO of AHM, on Wednesday, 19 of May

In the same sense, the vice president of the Mercan Group, Jordi Vilanova, affirms that the group’s projects combine “foreign investment, with job creation, the tourism encouragement, local and national development“, with plans to create 140 direct jobs.

The Renaissance Park Hotel will provide 163 rooms, a panoramic outdoor pool on the top floor with a bar and terrace, a restaurant with 250 seats and a congress center with capacity for up to 600 users. The work plans to be completed by summer of next year.
The acquisition, by 160 international investors, of almost 23 thousand square meters of land next to the Church of Lapa. This project included the granting of 17,700 square meters to the municipality, where is public park, part of a municipal project that includes new urban fronts, especially residential areas, the reformulation of access to the Lapa metro station and the bridging of the existing road network with the creation of new streets.

The deputy mayor of Porto also states “ Its also invaluable contribution to the city’s resilience and to its adaptation to climate changes, increasing green area, increasing blue spaces, provides several ecosystem services of high importance and also contributes to the increase of biodiversity in the urban space ”.

LEED Gold certificate, with excellent energy and environmental performance is also an added value, going against “what we have been working on in municipal buildings and which we take into account in new buildings and we are recovering from ”, recalled Filipe Araújo

“𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 €𝟓𝟐.𝟑𝐌 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲”

In February, investment resulting from the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) programme totalled 52,318,353 euros, 13% more than a year earlier (46.2 million euros), according to accounts made by Lusa based on SEF statistics.

According to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), 100 golden visas were granted last month, of which 89 through the purchase of real estate (24 for urban rehabilitation) and 11 through capital transfers.

Real estate totalled an investment of 47.5 million euros, of which 8.6 million euros went on urban rehabilitation, while capital transfer was responsible for 4.7 million euros.

In February #46 golden visas were granted to China, #7 to Brazil, #5 to the United States, #4 to Pakistan and #3 to Russia.

The ARI programme, launched in October 2012, has up to February this year – in cumulative terms – recorded an investment of more than €5.7 billion. Of this amount, most corresponds to the purchase of real estate, which after eight years of the programme amounts to €5.1 billion, with the purchase for urban rehabilitation totalling €288 million.

The investment raised through the capital transfer criterion amounts to €546 million.

Since their creation, 9,544 golden visas have been granted in Portugal: two in 2012, 494 in 2013, 1,526 in 2014, 766 in 2015, 1,414 in 2016, 1,351 in 2017, 1,409 in 2018, 1,245 in 2019, 1,182 in 2020 and 155 in 2021.

Until February, 8,970 visas were granted by way of the purchase of real estate, of which 801 were for urban rehabilitation.

For capital transfer, the visas granted total 557 and 17 remain for job creation.

China leads the allocation of visas (4,837), followed by Brazil (1,001), Turkey (456), South Africa (397) and Russia (366).

Since the beginning of the programme 16,265 residence permits have been granted to regrouped family members, of which 215 this year.

“𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 €𝟓𝟐.𝟑𝐌 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲”

In February, investment resulting from the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI) programme totalled 52,318,353 euros, 13% more than a year earlier (46.2 million euros), according to accounts made by Lusa based on SEF statistics.

According to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), 100 golden visas were granted last month, of which 89 through the purchase of real estate (24 for urban rehabilitation) and 11 through capital transfers.

Real estate totalled an investment of 47.5 million euros, of which 8.6 million euros went on urban rehabilitation, while capital transfer was responsible for 4.7 million euros.

In February #46 golden visas were granted to China, #7 to Brazil, #5 to the United States, #4 to Pakistan and #3 to Russia.

The ARI programme, launched in October 2012, has up to February this year – in cumulative terms – recorded an investment of more than €5.7 billion. Of this amount, most corresponds to the purchase of real estate, which after eight years of the programme amounts to €5.1 billion, with the purchase for urban rehabilitation totalling €288 million.

The investment raised through the capital transfer criterion amounts to €546 million.

Since their creation, 9,544 golden visas have been granted in Portugal: two in 2012, 494 in 2013, 1,526 in 2014, 766 in 2015, 1,414 in 2016, 1,351 in 2017, 1,409 in 2018, 1,245 in 2019, 1,182 in 2020 and 155 in 2021.

Until February, 8,970 visas were granted by way of the purchase of real estate, of which 801 were for urban rehabilitation.

For capital transfer, the visas granted total 557 and 17 remain for job creation.

China leads the allocation of visas (4,837), followed by Brazil (1,001), Turkey (456), South Africa (397) and Russia (366).

Since the beginning of the programme 16,265 residence permits have been granted to regrouped family members, of which 215 this year.

The European Medicines Agency has authorized Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, giving the European Union a fourth licensed vaccine to try to curb the pandemic amid a stalled vaccination drive in the bloc.

The COVID-19 shot is the fourth to be endorsed for use in the European Union after vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford University and Moderna, and is recommended for those over 18 years of age, the European Medicines agency (EMA) said. It’s the first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

After a thorough evaluation, EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) concluded by consensus that the data on the vaccine were robust and met the criteria for efficacy, safety and quality. COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen is the fourth vaccine recommended in the EU for preventing COVID-19.

Source: https://www.reuters.com

The 9^th project of MERCAN Group called RENAISSANCE by MARRIOTT SUCESSFULLY HIT 99% SUBSCRIPTION (159/160 Investments slots)

RENAISSANCE by MARRIOTT Hotel is one of the MERCAN project, which is qualified under Golden Visa Program (ARI). The hotel located in the historical section of Porto, it has a perfect location, within a 15-minute drive to the Airport and a 15-minute walking distance to the centre of the city. This project is offering a guaranteed rental return and buy-back option after five years. By investing 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 €𝟑𝟓𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎, also 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨-𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 and 𝐨𝐛𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐔/𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

Call for: 160 investors

Project Qualified for: Golden Residence Permit program (ARI)

Construction: Ongoing

Operation: Expect June 2022

Government incentives: No property tax in 5 years

Annual Rental Guarantee: 3% (annual payment)

Return of investment: 100% (350,000 EUR)

𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐋 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌 – 𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐔 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

All Mercan’s projects are qualified under the 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦/𝐀𝐑𝐈. It’s one of the most competitive programs that offer fast track to foreign investors to be granted a residence permit through investment activities conducted within Portugal territory. Residence permit holders already have the right to reside in Portugal and 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲# 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 #𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 #𝟐𝟔 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞. It also gives them a chance to 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 #𝐄𝐔 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 and enjoys the benefits of the EU.

Portugal Golden Visa/ARI enacted since 2012 under 7 categories. Mercan has launches the Golden Visa Program under property rehabilitation category. Until now, Mercan successfully calls for more than 300 investment slots from over 40 countries to invest in this scheme.

Porto Art’s Suites is an exquisite serviced apartment-hotel project; together with its sister-branch Porto Art Hotel; combining into a collection of “Porto Art Selection” that Mercan/RAG develops to specially cater smart travelers to the exciting city of Porto.

Located in the historic center zone with only 10 minutes’ walk to tourist spots in town, Porto Art’s Suites is unique in offering guests not only the comfort and quality from a standard hotel Suites criterion; but also aim to bring the “Feel Like Home” atmosphere to its clients.  The hotel is an expansion part of Porto Art Hotel; that offer 24 spacious and bright rooms; with a perfect blend of design and history. Guests can also enjoy access to restaurants and pool at Porto Art Hotel any time.

With Porto Art Suites, Living is Simply an Art…

PROJECT INFORMATION

Total Project Cost:  7,7million EUR

Total Apartment:   24 Freehold

+ 18 T1 apartments

+ 6 Studio apartments

Call for: 21 investors

• Each investor owns 1 bedroom apartment (T-1)
• Special offer only for 3 investors; each owns 2 studios apartment

Investment amount:  start from 356,900EUR up to 386,900EUR

Estimate completion date: 4^th quarter 2022

Timeline: 18 months

Expected Rental Income: 5%- 7% /year

Market value after 5 years: 30%+

ADVANTAGES:

• Invest in a qualified rehabilitation real estate project in the Historic Centre of Porto under Golden Visa program; the only category remains unchanged while all other categories are increased starting 01^st January 2022.
• Hotel industry: Occupancy rate of hotels in Porto remains high at 77% (under normal condition)
• The project is a beautiful service apartment hotel in Porto; a luxurious expansion part of Porto Art Hotel Group offering Suites room to Smart Travelers.
• Freehold asset with reasonable investment amount; can sell at market price after 5 years.
• Expected Annual income between 17,800EUR- 26,700EUR (5%-7.5%/ year)
• Free 7 days stay at Porto Art Suites every year.
• MERCAN/RAG is the largest hotel developer under Golden Visa program with investors coming from more than 40 nations worldwide. MERCAN and its local partners in Portugal confidently hold more than 50% market share under this category. The company commit to be the most professional, transparent and trusted partner for our investors in Portugal.

BENEFITS OF RESIDENCE CARD HOLDER UNDER GOLDEN VISA:

Get Residence Card for investor and family members (Spouse, dependent children and parents) through investment under Golden Visa program

• Entitled of free movement within 26 Schengen countries
• Opt out Visa application process to enter into EU
• Be entitled to live in a safe and peaceful country
• Free Public school for kids
• Premium quality of health care for parents
• Private insurance ranges from 200 up to 700EUR/ year
• Only stay 7 days a year in Portugal to keep residence card valid
• No worldwide income tax for up to 10 years
• Chance to apply Portuguese/EU citizenship after 5 years

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All MERCAN’s projects are qualified under the 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦/𝐀𝐑𝐈. It’s one of the most competitive program that offer fast track to foreign investors to be granted a residence permit through investment activities conducted within Portugal territory. Residence permit holders already have the right to reside in Portugal and 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲# 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 #𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 #𝟐𝟔 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞. It also gives them a chance to 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 #𝐄𝐔 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 and enjoys the benefits of the EU.

Portugal Golden Visa/ARI enacted since 2012 under 7 categories. MERCAN has launches the Golden Visa Program under property rehabilitation category. Until now, MERCAN successfully calls for more than 300 investment slots from over 40 countries to invest in this scheme.

The city of Braga has been voted the best European destination to visit in 2021, collecting a total of 109,902 votes from internet users, with a remarkable 72 percent of participants from outside of Portugal. Braga is the third-largest urban centre in Portugal (after Lisbon and Porto). The city is known for its religious heritage, gastronomic, cultural….and also considered to be one of the happiest cities in Europe and has some of the best quality of life in the world. Braga was the favourite destination of travellers from the United Kingdom and Brazil and one of the top destinations for travellers from the United States of America, France and was found to be the preferred destination of Spanish travellers. As in 2019, Braga was the only Portuguese destination nominated to receive this distinction. The fifteen “must see” destinations were Braga, Rome, Cavtat, Florence, Sibiu, Paris, Kefalonia, Kotor, Soca Valley, Canary Islands, Tubingen, Dordogne Valley, Tahiti, Capri and Ghent.

Source:

https://www.theportugalnews.com

The country’s national health authority DGS announced that almost 200,000 people had received the two doses of vaccine against Covid-19 in Portugal and about 330,000 have had their first jab.

According to information available in the first monitoring report on vaccination against Covid-19 in Portugal, released on Tuesday, 199,511 people were vaccinated with the two doses and 332,762 with one dose, between 27 December 2020 and 14 February 2021.

Most of those who already have the full vaccination are between 24 and 49 years old (84,231), followed by the 50-64 years (48,716) and 80 or more years (42,991) groups.

For people vaccinated with a single dose, most are also in the age group of 24-49 years (131,874), followed by people aged 80 and over (79,774) and 50 to 64 years (77,595).

In territorial terms, the North region has the highest number of people with the complete vaccination (68,320), followed by the regions of Lisbon and Tagus Valley (57,536), Centre (50,116), Alentejo (16,873) and Algarve (6,231).

As for the number of people vaccinated with the first dose, it is Lisbon and Tagus Valley that leads with 110,652, followed by the North (103,460), Centre (78,454), Alentejo (27,073) and Algarve (12,449).

More than 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Europe, with more than 26 million being distributed to Member States, according to information available in site European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Source:  https://econews.pt

The president of the National Medicines Authority (Infirmed) has announced that Portugal should receive in the second quarter of the year the first vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, a drug whose approval request was submitted on 16 February to the European regulator.

The new Janssen single-dose drug is now entering the final stage of evaluation and, “if all goes well” with the evaluation of its safety and efficacy, it is expected to be approved next month, with the first deliveries of doses scheduled for the second quarter of this year.

The commitment with the Vaccines available in the EU in the second quarter of 2021, when Portugal will receive the first 1.25 million doses. (Janssen’s medical director said)

Source:

https://www.theportugalnews.com