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An aerial view of five circular grey-domed anaerobic digester tanks at a biogas plant, set in green fields with farm buildings alongside.

A EUR 20.5 Million Biomethane Plant at Mares Draws 'We Want to Live in Peace' From Alenquer Residents

Gas da Terra wants to treat 84,000 tonnes of livestock effluent a year at Abrigada e Cabanas de Torres, with 30 lorries a day. The mayor says the council approved only a preliminary information request and sets one test: guarantee no odours, or it cannot be built.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

The lit facade and emergency vehicle entrance of the Hospital de Santa Maria in Lisbon at night, with a blue direction sign reading excepto viaturas de emergencia.

Health Ministry Sets End of November to Name Portugal's First Wave of Regional Emergency Departments

The current network of more than 160 emergency services rests on an architecture defined over a decade ago. A working group under anaesthetist Antonio Marques da Silva is assessing which specialties should be concentrated regionally, with orthopaedics in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo named as a candidate.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

A yellow Lisbon funicular car standing on the cobbled tracks of a steep narrow street lined with pastel buildings and wrought-iron balconies.

Portugal's Funiculars, Trams and Historic Lifts Move Under One Safety Regulator, a Year After the Gloria Disaster

President Seguro promulgated the decree-law on Monday. It covers metro and light metro, classic and modern trams, tourist light rail, and the lifts and funiculars that entered service before 1 January 1986. The IMT licenses the activity; the AMT takes safety certification and enforcement.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

A yellow INEM ambulance marked Ministerio da Saude and 112 parked on cobbles in Lisbon, with the Castelo de Sao Jorge hillside behind it.

Two Emergency Ambulances in Every Council That Has None: The Terms INEM's Technicians Take Into Wednesday's Ministry Meeting

STEPH's strike notice for 14 and 28 September asks INEM to keep all 56 emergency ambulances, drop the plan to turn life-support ambulances into cars, and open two emergency ambulances in every council without one by the end of 2027. Only five councils have two or more today.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

A weathered metal sign reading Zona de Caca Associativa, Processo n. 1162 DGF, nailed to a wooden post at the edge of a country road in Portugal.

Hunting Season in Portugal

The 78 percent of the mainland inside a hunting zone, the Thursday and Sunday rule, the 250 metre ring round your house, and banning shooting on your own land.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

The gate and derelict pavilion of the old Matadouro Industrial do Porto beside the road at Campanha, with the roofline of the Estadio do Dragao visible behind the trees.

Porto's Old Slaughterhouse Misses Another Summer, and Its Cultural Centre Now Opens in Stages Through 2027

The câmara told Lusa on Monday that the Matadouro will be handed over at the end of 2026, with fit-out running across 2027. Last October the manager said the 40 million euro M-ODU could open this summer and house more than 700 Mota-Engil staff by the third quarter of 2026.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

The arched stone entrance of the Maternidade Alfredo da Costa in Lisbon, seen from Rua Pinheiro Chagas, with a sign for the emergency department and paediatric clinic beside the gate.

Portugal Has Deleted 'Obstetric Violence' From Its Own Law, and With It the Fines for Routine Episiotomies

Lei n.º 57/2026, published on Monday and in force today, rewrites the 2025 law and drops the phrase it was famous for. The hospital funding penalties and the disciplinary inquiry go with it, replaced by a discretionary audit and a duty to publish episiotomy and caesarean rates by hospital.

The Portugal Brief 25 Aug 2026

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